Our fresh takes on policing this week
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Do black lives specifically matter to Nancy Pelosi?
It's certainly clear that all lives matter to the newly re-elected House speaker. She stated that at least twice in her answer to a question about the Black Lives Matter movement during a recent town hall meeting hosted by MSNBC's Joy Reid.
When asked by a student at Trinity University (the Washington D.C. school where the town hall was held Friday, and from which Pelosi herself graduated) if she "supported the Black Lives Matter movement," Pelosi stated that she supports "the recognition that black lives matter for sure. ... I think all lives matter." She also mentioned the need to "redress past grievances" toward the African American community.
Pelosi stumbled through more of her answer to the question. After prompting from Reid, who asked if there was a political solution to racism in America and brought up voter suppression, Pelosi talked about voting rights, "lifting up the economic well-being of all Americans" and getting rid of dark money in politics.
"We're all working to make sure that every part of our community, whether it's the immigrant community, whether it's the black community, whether it's the women's community, and the rest, not only matter, but rule."
Federal prison misconduct
A congressional report, released Wednesday, confirmed what a "New York Times" investigation revealed months ago — misconduct, including sexual assault, at federal prisons not only happens among prisoners and staff, but is routinely ignored and covered up through retaliation. The report, from the Subcommittee on National Security, stated that "discipline remains inconsistent" and that "the investigation or disciplinary phase" of an incident "can be thwarted entirely."
The report included information about a 2017 lawsuit that included more than 500 women who stated that inmates at a Bureau of Prisons facility were allowed to sexually harass them without anything being done to stop or punish the behavior. That case ended with a $20 million settlement.
What did 2018 teach us about police use of force?
Despite national conversations about de-escalation training for police officers, a growing awareness about implicit racial bias and efforts by the federal government to track police use of fatal force, the number of people shot and killed by cops went up in 2018.
Police fatally shot nearly 1,000 people last year, up from 987 the year before, according to a "Washington Post" report on fatal force. And of the 1,147 people killed by police in 2017, a quarter were black. Last year, the overall number of people killed by police also went up.
For more 2018 data on fatal police use of force, take a look at this report by The Root.
Want more? Check out the Policing the USA site for information on police, policing and the justice system across the country.
Want to talk about police, race and the justice system in America? Reach out to Policing the USA editor Eileen Rivers on Twitter @msdc14 or via email at erivers@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Our fresh takes on policing this week
