There is a new database aggregating information on people killed by police. It’s called People Killed by Police. The about page states: “To provide a much needed source of input on policing related issues and events in the United States, by an ex-SWAT officer and well known media personality DonutOperator, as well as to provide a single cohesive database of all individuals killed by police, as a replacement for killedbypolice.net which sadly shut down after many years of dedicated work.” DonutOperator is not a well-known personality to me, and I can’t find his real name on the site. This gives me pause. However, every listing from 2019 and 2018 that I checked had a news story link you can access by clicking “details.” None of the 2017 listings I looked at did. I might use this as a starting point or to gather names to investigate further, but I’m a little leery of denoting this as completely credible. (And if DonutOperator doesn’t want to use his real name, fine; he doesn’t owe me anything. But skepticism is pretty much required online nowadays.)
death
Patch: Molasses Flood Victims’ Death Certificates Now Online
Patch: Molasses Flood Victims’ Death Certificates Now Online. “A century ago 21 people, including two school children and one 65-year-old house wife were killed in the Great Molasses Flood in the North End. Now, their death certificates are online as part of a new online archives system the Secretary of the Commonwealth announced Tuesday.”
The Times: Holocaust victims’ remains found in Imperial War Museum archives
The Times: Holocaust victims’ remains found in Imperial War Museum archives. “More than 70 years after they were murdered at Auschwitz, six unknown Holocaust victims will be laid to rest after it was revealed that their remains have lain for decades in the Imperial War Museum archives. Unbeknown to Jewish leaders, the ashes and bone fragments, believed to belong to five adults and a child, have been in storage for more than 20 years since they were bequeathed in the late 1990s by a Holocaust survivor who took them during a visit to the Nazi death camp.” Sometimes I have to stop, take out my handkerchief, and cry for a few minutes.
The Northern Echo: Animal grave archive to be created online
The Northern Echo: Animal grave archive to be created online. “Through the Finding Fido project, researchers at Newcastle University hope to create an online archive of all the headstones, plaques and statues dedicated to animals to help understand how the relationship between humans and animals, has changed over time.” This might be UK only. Not clear from the article.
Fast Company: People are falling off buildings in search of the perfect Instagram shot
Fast Company: People are falling off buildings in search of the perfect Instagram shot. “A subculture has emerged in the past eight years of people who seek out death-defying situations–and they do it for the likes, followers, and adulation of fans on social media.” I have included articles like this before, but I’m adding this one because it’s a fairly deep dive with a lot of interesting bits I did not know (like the top four countries for selfie deaths.)
BBC: Bereaved mother criticises Facebook over baby ads
BBC: Bereaved mother criticises Facebook over baby ads. “The mother of a stillborn child has called on tech companies to rethink how they target ads after she was inundated with baby-related promotions. Gillian Brockell wrote to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Experian, saying if they were smart enough to deduce she had been pregnant, they should have realised her baby had died.”
Hyperallergic: Museum Creates Program for Families Suffering from the Opioid Crisis
Hyperallergic: Museum Creates Program for Families Suffering from the Opioid Crisis. “Approximately 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017 alone. For families hurt by addiction, the Currier Museum of Art in New Hampshire has created an unprecedented program that uses art as a healing tool for those affected by the epidemic in a state that’s ranked third in the nation for drug overdoses.”
