StoryMaps: Mapping Police Violence and Misconduct (1957-1973)
Each research team created a map series, utilizing the ArcGIS StoryMaps platform, to synthesize the maps, data visualizations, and research findings in its chronological section of the Detroit Under Fire website. These interactive StoryMaps provide an alternative and more streamlined way to engage with the vast amount of information and documents in this exhibit and are accompanied by a curriculum guide developed in partnership with CEDER (Center for Education Design, Evaluation, & Research) at the University of Michigan.
"Mapping Police Violence and Misconduct (1957-1973)," the five-part Detroit Under Fire StoryMap series, provides a brief introduction to the main events of each time period and then allows audiences to explore specific incidents and broader patterns of police brutality, misconduct, homicides, and non-fatal shootings of civilians. The five teams identified these incidents through laborious archival and database research and then mapped the individual encounters and the broader patterns in the city of Detroit's racial geography and street-level landscape. It is important to emphasize that these maps represent a vast undercount of actual police-civilian incidents of brutality and misconduct, because of deliberate and systemic silences and distortions in the archive. Project director Matt Lassiter and HistoryLab graduate supervisor Nicole Navarro revised and finalized these StoryMaps based on the contributions of the student team for each section.
Note: the embeds works best in the Chrome browser and are better viewed directly on the ArcGIS StoryMaps platform. Click on the direct link to go directly to the StoryMap, especially if you are experience functionality issues Safari or Firefox or are asked to "sign in."
Detroit Under Fire Pt. I: Mapping Police Violence and Misconduct (1957-1963) [direct link]
Detroit Under Fire Pt. II: Mapping Police Violence and Misconduct (1964-1966) [direct link]
Detroit Under Fire Pt. III: Mapping Police Violence and Misconduct (1967) [direct link]
Detroit Under Fire Part IV: Mapping Police Violence and Misconduct (1968-1970) [direct link]