Introduction
The roots of policing in the United States “can be traced back to a multitude of historical, legal, and political-economic conditions,” primary among which are “the institution of slavery” and “the control of minorities” (Kappeler, 2014). Just as “the legacy and slavery of racism did not end after the Civil War” (Kappeler, 2014), the role of police in civilized society evolved and adapted to the transformations of hegemony.
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We understand, therefore, that police violence against racial minorities and other marginalized groups is by no measure a strictly modern phenomenon. What is modern is the application of information science to the collection, analysis, and communication of data related to policing. Using tools of data processing and visualization, we are better able to understand and share both the immensity of this issue and its damaging consequences for all of the American public.
Discussion
In their project, “The Counted,” the Guardian seeks to document data pertaining to the epidemic of police shootings in the United States. (“The Counted,” n.d.) Similarly, the Washington Post released a public database containing records of police shootings of civilians from 2015 to present (“Police shootings 2016 database,” n.d.) which will be updated into the foreseeable future. These sources are so widely considered authoritative that in 2015, James Comey, then director of the FBI, told reporters that “it is unacceptable that the Washington Post and the Guardian newspaper from UK are becoming the lead source of information about violent encounters between [US] police and civilians” (Tran, 2015). These news outlets utilize the data to support their content, often providing visualizations to complement and reinforce the analysis and conclusions from the text. The graphics for this lab share the same purpose: users should be able to make definitive statements about on the nature of police violence in the United States. Additionally, users should feel a sense of urgency to share the information within the graphics with their social networks.
Materials
I have chosen to use the Washington Post data for my visualizations. Software employed for this lab includes OpenRefine and Tableau Public. A computer with an internet connection is also required. A few other internet based resources are optional: data.world, GitHub, Google Drive, JSTOR, and Zotero.
Methods
I queried “african american” on data.world to locate a dataset. Note that you must have an account with data.world to search view and/or download files. Fortunately, the Washington Post provides a direct link to download the file on GitHub (data-police-shootings, June 30, 2015/2017). I uploaded the csv file to OpenRefine and cleaned the data with JSON. A txt file of the code is here. I then exported the csv file again under a new name, and imported the new file to Tableau Public. In Tableau, I created several visualizations using primarily Race, Gender, Signs of Mental Illness, State and City, Age, and Count(Number of Records). In the final dashboard, an interactive map of the United States acts a filter for the other charts and graphs. I chose this design, because I want the user to have dynamic control over the display and because I wanted to share multiple visuals within a single dashboard.
Results
Of particular note in the content is the large number of deadly shootings of white men. Given that concerns about the use of excessive and fatal force are often discounted by the label “identity politics,” it would follow that individuals with those identities would be especially concerned with their treatment under law enforcement. We see in the United States’ current socio-political climate that this is not the case. Instead (and rightfully so), data concerning police reform is framed as a single part of a multi-dimensional approach to dismantling the systemic oppression of marginalized groups. As any scholar of Black feminism could tell you, the path to freedom for the most disadvantaged in our society is also the path to the enrichment and prosperity of people from all identities and backgrounds. Perhaps this data can serve as a call to action for more white men to demand accountability in law enforcement.
Technical results are generally positive. Three main design concerns arose and were resolved in the following manner:
• In order to eliminate the automatically rendered scroll bars from the graphics, I resized the dashboard, increasing width and height until reaching the desired proportions. An observer noted that this action decreased or possibly eliminated access to the graphics from mobile devices.
• I froze the positions of the maps to make sure that the intended filter function is not disturbed by user error.
• Color graphics use the “Color Blind” scheme to ensure that anyone with such sensory impairments can observe this layer of detail. The graphics also show well in gray-scale for individuals that would like to print the visualization.
Future Directions
As the Washington Post adds records to the database over the next few years, I would like to continue updating the source table for the Tableau project. Temporal data is key to making informed predictions about the future, and in this case, to demonstrating a sustained need for the reform (dare I say abolition) of policing in the United States. I would also like to pull international data to demonstrate that the this country’s status quo in an extreme outlier in larger contexts.
References
- data-police-shootings: The Washington Post is compiling a database of every fatal shooting in the United States by a police officer in the line of duty in 2015 and 2016. (2017). The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://github.com/washingtonpost/data-police-shootings (Original work published June 30, 2015)
- Kappeler, V. E. (2014, January 7). A Brief History of Slavery and the Origins of American Policing | Police Studies Online. Retrieved June 15, 2017, from http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/brief-history-slavery-and-origins-american-policing
Police shootings 2016 database. (n.d.). Retrieved June 14, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2016/ - The Counted: tracking people killed by police in the United States | US News. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2017, from http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/counted-us-police-killings
- Tran, M. (2015, October 8). FBI chief: “unacceptable” that Guardian has better data on police violence. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/08/fbi-chief-says-ridiculous-guardian-washington-post-better-information-police-shootings