The Nation - News from Feb. 13, 1989

Black suspects in Dade County, which includes Miami, are no more likely to be shot by police than other suspects, despite suspicions among blacks of a racial pattern, according to a published report. The study, by the Miami Herald, comes almost a month after three days of racial violence broke out when a Latino Miami policeman shot and killed a black motorcyclist. A black man who was a passenger died later when the motorcycle slammed into a car. Officer William Lozano was charged with two counts of manslaughter. Since the incident, many blacks have called for an end to what they charge are racial murders by police. The newspaper examined 158 police shootings in the last five years and said it found that 46% of the people shot were black. Blacks make up 21% of the county’s population, but 44% of those arrested were black, close to the percentage of those shot.