African Americans Have Made Up More Than Half Of Homicides In San Francisco In 2015
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - While the overall homicide rate remains low in the Bay Area, more than half the people who have been killed in San Francisco this year were black, even though only six percent of the city's population is African American.
12 of the 23 people killed in San Francisco in 2015 have been African American. Police Commissioner Joe Marshall, who is also the co-founder of the anti-violence Alive and Free Omega Boys Club, said this is not just a local problem, but a national one, with many of the murders related to drugs or gangs.
"Each case is a different case," Marshall said. "However it is sad that of the 23, 12 were black."
Marshall said the African American community still struggles with a lack of economic opportunity and a sense that there is no justice for them in the criminal justice system.
He said too many young people are too quick to turn to violence, because they lack a basic respect for the value of every human life.
"That's really what we need to teach everyone and anyone, regardless of skin color, ethnicity or anything else," Marshall said.
53-year-old James Collins was the latest victim, as he was gunned down in San Francisco's Bayview District on Sunday night by a suspect with an AK-47 assault rifle.