A decade worth of clearance data from the Chicago Police shows that 20 percent of Black fatal shootings resulted in arrests compared to almost 36 percent of white ones.
Even more, she said when police do try and talk to witnesses they have not been discreet about it, arriving at people’s homes. The whole neighborhood finds out quickly, Bosley added, and those people become terrified that they may face retaliation. Beyond fear from assailants, Nelson said, witnesses fear getting in trouble with the police. She said her son’s friend would not speak to police because he worried about getting in trouble for also firing a gun the day Zaire died.