What We're Reading

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  They Investigate Police Killings. Their Record Is Wanting.

  Published on September 25, 2021

  Reporters Michael LaForgia and Jennifer Valentino-DeVries examined thousands of records related to Texas Rangers investigations of custodial deaths in Texas. "The Times found that state investigations can be afflicted by the same shortcuts and pro-police biases that outside interventions are meant to eliminate," the story states.

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  ‘Shooting First And Asking Questions Later’

  Published on August 13, 2021

  Staff at The Marshall Project and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting spent a year examining fatal shootings by police in rural America. "Although the rate of rural police shootings was about 30% lower than the urban rate when adjusted for population," the report states, "the rural incidents mirrored many of the dynamics of police shootings that have come under scrutiny in cities."

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  ‘They Should Have Been Watching’: Suicides Rise in Texas Prisons During Pandemic

  Published on August 13, 2021

  In less than one week in July, five people in Texas prisons died by suicide, including Kevin Praylor, 43, reports Keri Blakinger. TJI found that it was only the second time since 2005 that so many prisoners died by suicide in a span of six days.

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  A Story of Two Deaths at the Collin County Jail

  Published on August 2, 2021

  Dalton Laferney reports on two deaths – 14 years apart – that took place in the Collin County Jail while individuals were being restrained. Both deaths were ruled homicides, Laferney reports.

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  Police shootings continue daily, despite a pandemic, protests and pushes for reform

  Published on July 30, 2021

  The Washington Post has tracked fatal shootings by police since 2015 and report that "midway through this year, fatal police shootings are down compared with the same period last year." Still, officers shot and killed an average of 1,000 people each year – about three individuals a day – over the past six years.