Fatal Encounters

Processing Software Sketch; Audio from George Floyd, Sound Recordings
2021

Visualization of police related deaths in the United States from January 2000 through March 2021. Data from Fatal Encounters.
Each light colored pixel represents a death and is sequentially mapped based on the location where the death occurred. Deaths that took place in Alaska and Hawaii are not shown. Accompanying the death is one of four sounds: a Glock handgun firing, a vehicular crash, a taser, and part of an audio recording from George Floyd’s death. The Fatal Encounters database categorizes cause of death based on the highest level of physical force used. Of fifteen categories listed, the most prevalent are gunshot (21,028 deaths), vehicle (6159 deaths), taser (913 deaths), and asphyxiation/restraint (302 deaths). Together, these four categories account for 95% of the deaths.