Murders by police and of police officers constitute a significant percentage of the homicides in this data set. Police kill persons who flee or resist arrest, or in circumstances of civil disorder, in self defense, or in other situations. These cases have been separately identified, and much research remains to be done on this subject.
The police, as the record keepers of this data set, are a topic of great interest. The police should be the most accurate record keepers of statistics and information concerning deaths caused by police and the killings of police (JCLC p.527-529, JCLC p.549-550).
For further reading: Flinn, John S., History of the Chicago Police. Montclair NJ: Patterson Smith, 1887⁄1973. Beginning with events prior to the founding of Chicago, this book is as much a history of the city as it is of the police department. The author provides extensive detail in describing the role of law enforcement during key nineteenth century events (until 1887) in Chicago history, particularly the various instances of civil unrest.
Lindberg, Charles C., To Serve and Collect: Chicago Politics and Police Corruption from the Lager Beer Riot to the Summerdale Scandal. New York: Praeger, 1991. Beginning with the founding of the city and continuing through the Summerdale Scandal of 1958-61, Lindberg focuses on law enforcement and political corruption in Chicago.
Raphael W. Marrow and Harriet I. Carter, In Pursuit of Crime The Police of Chicago, Chronicle of a Hundred Years: 1833-1933. The Flats Publishing Company, Sunbury (1996). A history of the Chicago Police Department using internal sources and relating the politics of the times to the development of the police. Chronological and anecdotal.
