Ferguson’s population is more than two-thirds black, but its police force only has three black officers. The town of 21,000 was not previously known for racial tension, but some say it has been bubbling beneath the surface. Young black men feel targeted by police and resent it. Gun sales have spiked locally.
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The number of people shot and killed by the police is hard to track. Nationwide, it has probably fallen since violent crime peaked in the 1990s. In New York, for example, police bullets killed 39 people in 1990 but eight in 2010. But since local police departments are not obliged to keep detailed statistics, it is hard to discern the national picture, says David Klinger of the University of Missouri, St Louis. A 2011 Department of Justice study found that the police kill roughly one person every day. The FBI deemed nearly all of these killings justifiable, but still too many were not. If the police wore body cameras, that might help. Complaints dropped nearly 90% and the use of force fell 60% when officers started wearing them in Rialto, California.
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