Police are hardly ever prosecuted for alleged civil rights violations
The Department of Justice has acted in just 4% of alleged civil rights violation by police officers in the past 20 years, a new report reveals.
An investigation by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review found that the Justice Department often declined to investigate further due to a lack of evidence, or a lack of criminal intent by the officer -- the burden of proof required by a Supreme Court ruling in 1945.
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The Tribune found that the Justice Department turned down 12,703 out of 13,233 alleged civil rights violations by police during the years 1995 to 2015, or 96% of the total.
When it came to other potential crimes by police officers, the DOJ declined to pursue an average of 23% of cases.
Prosecutors often describe charging a police officer with a civil rights violation as one of the most difficult jobs in the business.
In 1945, the Supreme Court held that officers must have intended to commit civil rights violations in order to be charged with them.
Recklessness or negligence are not a sufficient standard.
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Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
