2020 already a particularly deadly year for people killed in police encounters, CBC research shows – CBC

It has already been a particularly deadly year in terms of people killed in encounters with police in Canada — and Black and Indigenous people continue to be over-represented among the fatalities.

There were 30 people killed after police used force in Canada in the first half of 2020, which is the full-year average for such deaths over the past 10 years (the deadliest year was 2016, when 40 people were killed). This is according to the Deadly Force database, updated and maintained by the CBC’s own researchers.

The database shows Black and Indigenous people are disproportionately represented amongst the victims compared to their share of the overall population.

The data also finds most of those killed in police encounters suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.

There is no government database listing deaths at the hands of the police available to the public in Canada, so CBC News created its own. The CBC’s research librarians have collected detailed information on each case, such as ethnicity, the role of mental illness or substance abuse, the type of weapon used and the police service involved, to create a picture of who is dying in police encounters.

Read More: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/fatalpoliceencounters/