Police violence in the United States: understanding why the phenomenon persists

Demonstrators protest, Friday, January 27, 2023, in Washington, against the death of Tire Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers on January 7 © AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

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2 mins

The United States is in shock after the broadcast of a video showing the death of a young African-American from Memphis, beaten by police after a banal traffic check.

Joe Biden said he was scandalized and deeply hurt by the drama and the violence of these images.

An emotion all the more vivid as this new case comes two years after the death of George Floyd, which had aroused a vast mobilization in the street against police violence in the United States.

Two years later, the report is terrible: the number of people killed by the police continues to increase in the country.  

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With more than 1,180 deaths in 2022, this is the highest level for ten years, according to the

quoted by Agence France Presse.

By way of comparison, less than 20 people die in France each year during police interventions, it is ten times less when this figure is related to the population of the two countries.

How to explain this discrepancy?

First, by the very large number of firearms circulating in the United States, then by the

of violence during arrests - this is the term used by the one of the lawyers for the family of George Floyd- and today that of Tire Nichols

For the black community, it is the institution that produces racism…

Charlotte Recoquillon, associate researcher at the French Institute of Geopolitics and journalist specializing in the United States

Sylvie Noel

► To read also:

Visibly insufficient reforms

Two years ago, however, following

, reforms were promised to curb this police violence.

Among these promises: to put an end to the impunity enjoyed by the police or the creation of a register of agents who have shown violence.

On the legislative level, little has changed...

Charlotte Recoquillon, associate researcher at the French Institute of Geopolitics and journalist specializing in the United States

Sylvie Noel

But at the federal level, this project came up against opposition from the Republican camp.

It was therefore at the local level, as is often the case in the United States, that reforms were initiated, but in a somewhat haphazard fashion and without much effect – we can see this in Memphis, where the tragedy took place, while a new code of conduct had been adopted for city police officers;

obviously insufficient to avoid this new tragedy and this terrible and deadly violence which followed a simple roadside check. 

► To read also: Death of a black teacher after his arrest, in Los Angeles

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