What We're Reading

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  How a 63-year-old inmate was the first to die from COVID-19 in the Dallas County jail

  Published on October 16, 2020

  Reporters for The Dallas Morning News describe how Channel Lee Greer, 63, died of COVID-19 in June, three months after he was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance. Dallas County officials announced Greer's death in August and filed a custodial death report in October.

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  A Carceral Crisis

  Published on October 15, 2020

  A new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security urges officials to take "urgent and swift action" to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in jails and prisons. "The lack of preparation—the lack of a public health system—that exists in these facilities is really concerning," Crystal Watson, who co-authored the report, said.

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  1,010 people have been shot and killed by police in the past year

  Published on September 23, 2020

  In its annual summary of shootings by law enforcement, The Washington Post reports that the number of shootings each year has remained steady since The Post's first report five years ago. Additionally, the report states, "the rate at which black Americans are killed by police is more than twice as high as the rate for white Americans."

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  Bexar County Is No. 2 in Texas for Officer-Involved Shootings; Black Residents Are in the Crosshairs

  Published on September 9, 2020

  Sanford Nowlin, editor-in-chief for the San Antonio Current, localized TJI's new report on shootings of and by Texas law enforcement for the cover story of his weekly newspaper. Nowlin's story focuses on Bexar County/San Antonio, home to the 2nd-highest number of officer-involved shootings in Texas from 2016-2019.

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  Covid-19 has killed more police officers this year than all other causes combined, data shows

  Published on September 2, 2020

  Christopher Ingram reports that at least 100 law enforcement officers have died after contracting COVID-19 on the job, and another 150 deaths remain under investigation. "At the state level, Texas stands out for having the highest number of law enforcement covid fatalities with at least 21, according to NLEOMF. At least 16 of those represent officers with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which manages the state’s correctional facilities."