By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis
The activists behind the Anti Eviction Mapping Project have taken the database of civilians killed by members of the San Francisco Police Department we obtained through public records requests to create a Murder Map.
They've compiled the data, after noting its limitations, to show that from January 1985 through August 2014, 69% of the dead civilians were people of color and 40% were black, while pointing out that black folks make up only 6% of San Francisco's population.
What motivated the activists to create this interactive map was seeing "the recent murder of Alex Nieto by the San Francisco Police Department as intimately linked to the hyper-gentrification of the San Francisco Bay Area. We created this map in solidarity with him and the communities fighting for justice here in the Bay Area and across the United States."
We're proud that our sunshine and police accountability advocacy has directly contributed to this much-needed mapping effort. Frankly, we need many more people filing public records requests with law enforcement agencies about officer-involved shootings.
If you're wondering what connection there is between the eviction epidemic in San Francisco, the primary focus of the anti eviction group, and the fatal police shootings of civilians it has much to do with the myriad ways social justice for poor and moderate income people and communities of colors is thwarted.
Take a look at the Murder Map here: http://www.antievictionmappingproject.net/murdermap.html.
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