List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States

[Neil Desmond]

I think it's getting ridiculous how stories of killings by cops seems to be getting more and more common on an almost daily basis. I was initially thinking of posting a thread asking if anyone knew of any statistics on killings by cops before and after 9/11/01 to see what the pattern was. I decided to try to surf the net first to see if there would be anything on this, and it seems like Wikipedia has some pretty good information as a source for the stats.

Here's a starting point article (it states that the list is incomplete, meaning that there are more than what's listed): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._United_States

Here's what the numbers it provide are prior to 2001, since 1943 (each year a single digit number, many are 0, almost all are 2 or less):

1943: 1
1944: 0
1945: 0
1946: 0
1947: 2
1948: 0
1949: 1
1950: 0
1951: 1
1952: 2
1953: 0
1954: 0
1955: 1
1956: 1
1957: 2
1958: 0
1959: 0
1960: 0
1961: 0
1962: 0
1963: 0
1964: 0
1965: 0
1966: 0
1967: 0
1968: 1 (note: Orangeburg massacre)
1970: 6 (note: 4 = Kent State shootings & 2 = Jackson State killings)
1971: 1
1972: 0
1973: 0
1974: 0
1975: 0
1976: 0
1977: 1
1978: 0
1979: 1
1980: 0
1981: 1
1982: 2
1983: 0
1984: 0
1985: 0
1986: 0
1987: 0
1988: 0
1989: 0
1990: 2
1991: 0
1992: 6
1993: 2
1994: 1
1995: 2
1996: 2
1997: 4
1998: 0
1999: 6
2000: 4

Here's the list starting in 2001 (none are 0):

2001: 4
2002: 3
2003: 7
2004: 8
2005: 6
2006: 23
2007: 15
2008: 20
2009: 60
2010: 79
2011: 154
2012: 587
2013: 302

At first it's still in the low single digits just like years prior to 2001, and it takes a few years, but then it makes this disturbing jump into the the double digits, and in a decade it makes a horrifying leap into the hundreds.

This is absolutely unacceptable lunacy! People need to be shown this list to make them aware of it and to open their eyes to the complete downturn our country has made!

[Anti Federalist]

double post

[Anti Federalist]

While I, of course, have no doubt this is trending upward, I question the early statistics.

1993 was Waco, for instance, and I know more than 2 people died at the hands of cops that whole year.

[Neil Desmond]

While I, of course, have no doubt this is trending upward, I question the early statistics.

1993 was Waco, for instance, and I know more than 2 people died at the hands of cops that whole year.

Good catch! I'll have to look that one up.

[Neil Desmond]

Good catch! I'll have to look that one up.

Holy eff! According to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_massacre it was 76!

[Anti Federalist]

Or 1992 for instance...ten people were shot by cops in the LA riots alone.

Fifty-three people died during the riots, including ten who were shot dead by police and military forces

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots

[kcchiefs6465]

The numbers have always been high-- The ratio absurd.

"0"? GTFOH.

There is no requirement to report officer shootings (of the mundane). I'd wager to bet that the stats for every year are cooked.

[JK/SEA]

FOIA?.................................n/m

[phill4paul]

I'm having a senior moment tonight. Can someone refresh me on which congressional act required law enforcement agencies to report all instances of officer invilved shootings to the FBI?

[Neil Desmond]

The numbers have always been high-- The ratio absurd.

"0"? GTFOH.

There is no requirement to report officer shootings (of the mundane). I'd wager to bet that the stats for every year are cooked.

I'm not quite sure I get what you're trying to say. Are you trying to say that they're trying to make it look like things were much better in the past and it's been surging to look much worse recently? Are you implying that it's not true that the numbers haven't been surging to much worse levels? That seems ridiculous. Why would they do such a thing? Don't you think they would want to make it look like things have gotten better, not worse?

[Neil Desmond]

FOIA?.................................n/m

Yeah, I'm not sure FOIA is necessary or the only way when you can have plenty of other ways of getting the data, such as family, friends, neighbors, witnesses, the bodies with cops' bullets in them, etc. to serve as sources.

[Matt Collins]

Cato has a specific website for police misconduct:
http://www.policemisconduct.net/

[libertarianMoney]

Yea. There is definitely something sketchy about those numbers.
I looked for some others sources but it seems the statistics are a bit elusive.

Even if the trend is a quarter of that obvious it is a reason to be alarmed.
I might just have to fight the urge to throw my hands in the air every time I see a cop.

[Origanalist]

Those numbers can't possibly be correct.

[Dr.3D]

I would like to see the numbers of people who died due to drug overdoses vs. at the hands of cops trying to keep people from using drugs.
I'll bet more people have died from the cops than from the drugs the cops claim they are saving people from.

[Anti Federalist]

I'm having a senior moment tonight. Can someone refresh me on which congressional act required law enforcement agencies to report all instances of officer invilved shootings to the FBI?

It was some "safety" act that included that portion in it.

Back around 2003 or so.

Balko has mentioned it many times.

And of course, it has been roundly ignored.

There has been no real accounting, other than citizen watchdogs like David Packman, who started "Police Misconduct", turned it over to Stato and then, I'm pretty sure, started this wiki project "list of killings by LEOs".

[Anti Federalist]

I would like to see the numbers of people who died due to drug overdoses vs. at the hands of cops trying to keep people from using drugs.
I'll bet more people have died from the cops than from the drugs the cops claim they are saving people from.

The medical mafia kills many times more than "illegal" drugs.

[Dr.3D]

The medical mafia kills many times more than "illegal" drugs.

I have to question the cannabis overdose deaths. I doubt it's possible.

[phill4paul]

Yeah, this list is skewed from non-reporting according to this article of independent media data:

Police Involved Shooting Statistics: A National One-Year Summary
In 2011, according to data I collected, police officers in the United States shot 1,146 people, killing 607. Between January 1, 2011 and January 1, 2012 I used the Internet to compile a national database of police involved shootings. The term "police involved shooting" pertains to law enforcement officers who, in the line of duty, discharge their guns. When journalists and police administrators use the term, they include the shooting of animals and shots that miss their targets. My case files only include instances in which a person is either killed or wounded by police gunfire. My data also includes off-duty officers who discharged their weapons in law enforcement situations. They don't include, for example, officers using their firearms to resolve personal disputes.

In 1971, police officers in New York City shot 314 people, killing 93.

http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.c...11-annual.html

[Anti Federalist]

I have to question the cannabis overdose deaths. I doubt it's possible.

Well, notice that is a line so small as to represent next to nothing.

The huge rise is due to "legal" pharmaceuticals.

[Anti Federalist]

In 1971, police officers in New York City shot 314 people, killing 93.

I wonder what it was for the whole country?

And why does it seem so much worse now?

A reflection of the higher crime rate at the time?

Or have the numbers been so $#@!ed there is no real way to be sure?

[kcchiefs6465]

I'm not quite sure I get what you're trying to say. Are you trying to say that they're trying to make it look like things were much better in the past and it's been surging to look much worse recently? Are you implying that it's not true that the numbers haven't been surging to much worse levels? That seems ridiculous. Why would they do such a thing? Don't you think they would want to make it look like things have gotten better, not worse?

I'm saying that throughout the history of the police in America, they have been killing, beating, robbing, and harassing people without consequence. They don't report their crimes.

The Cocaine Wars in Miami? The Five Families in New York City? The police were bought and paid for. They sometimes participated directly in hits. They were shooting people left and right. Prohibition in the '20s was the same scenario. The FBI's history is riddled with pointblank assassination. The numbers presented are so laughable I have trouble knowing where to begin.

Now I can concede that the number of shootings perpetrated by police has risen. That can be explained by the sheer number of police. They've been killing people for years though. From lynching blacks in the South, to burying folks in the desert of Las Vegas, trust and believe, they have been knee deep in criminal enterprises since their inception and have ran rampant knowing that they were the law.

The reason why it goes from "two" in 1947 to the hundreds today is partly because of the advent of the internet. Information is readily disseminated. Getting a general figure of citizens killed by the police is not impossible as it once was.

In 1985, for example, they dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto a house. (literally) Lit some 10 square blocks of Philadelphia on fire. Burned up a bunch of kids and innocent civilians. "0"!?

[kcchiefs6465]

I wonder what it was for the whole country?

And why does it seem so much worse now?

A reflection of the higher crime rate at the time?

Or have the numbers been so $#@!ed there is no real way to be sure?

It seems worse because of the internet. Now I know what happens in NYC, for example, when in 1971 you knew what the MSM told you or you were fortunate enough to stumble across.

The crime rate has been relatively the same as well. Police departments are encouraged to cook stats. The mayor runs on a platform to be tough on crime. Trust and believe, whether rapes are turned into batteries, the crime rate will "fall." I wouldn't even wipe my ass with their stats. They stink too much.

NYC then was ripe with heroin kingpins. We are talking whole graduating classes being corrupted. You show the average officer a trunk full of money, and needless to say, they are going to consider their options. The Lucchese family had cops hitting people. NYC most probably was a fair representation of metropolitan areas of the period, but in spirit it was the same period as Diallo getting 41 shots. It never changed. They are above the law. They've always been above the law. They've always acted accordingly. It is tragic to consider the hundreds if not thousands undoubtedly left in a hole somewhere in the middle of nowhere for mouthing off to a cop or not being from the area. Highway robbery may have been legitimized but they were robbing people in West Texas decades before that. And if you questioned them, you were liable to disappear.

[Anti Federalist]

In 1985, for example, they dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto a house. (literally) Lit some 10 square blocks of Philadelphia on fire. Burned up a bunch of kids and innocent civilians. "0"!?

The "MOVE" bombing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOVE

[kcchiefs6465]

The "MOVE" bombing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOVE

Mayor W. Wilson Goode soon appointed an investigative commission called the PSIC or MOVE commission. It issued its report on March 6, 1986. The report denounced the actions of the city government, stating that "Dropping a bomb on an occupied row house was unconscionable." No one from the city government was charged criminally.

$#@!ing incredible.

[phill4paul]

Or have the numbers been so $#@!ed there is no real way to be sure?

This. Theye are capable of producing statistics for any damn thing but police abuse and executions. The DOJ doesn't even require police to report officer involved shootings.

[Dr.3D]

I guess this could go right here.

[Neil Desmond]

I'm saying that throughout the history of the police in America, they have been killing, beating, robbing, and harassing people without consequence. They don't report their crimes.

The Cocaine Wars in Miami? The Five Families in New York City? The police were bought and paid for. They sometimes participated directly in hits. They were shooting people left and right. Prohibition in the '20s was the same scenario. The FBI's history is riddled with pointblank assassination. The numbers presented are so laughable I have trouble knowing where to begin.

Now I can concede that the number of shootings perpetrated by police has risen. That can be explained by the sheer number of police. They've been killing people for years though. From lynching blacks in the South, to burying folks in the desert of Las Vegas, trust and believe, they have been knee deep in criminal enterprises since their inception and have ran rampant knowing that they were the law.

The reason why it goes from "two" in 1947 to the hundreds today is partly because of the advent of the internet. Information is readily disseminated. Getting a general figure of citizens killed by the police is not impossible as it once was.

In 1985, for example, they dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto a house. (literally) Lit some 10 square blocks of Philadelphia on fire. Burned up a bunch of kids and innocent civilians. "0"!?

That's a good point regarding the Internet playing a role in making a difference. I still wonder if our post 9-11 era is having any impact or effect in any way, though.

[kcchiefs6465]

That's a good point regarding the Internet playing a role in making a difference. I still wonder if our post 9-11 era is having any impact or effect in any way, though.

I'm sure it did. The job caters to emotionally or mentally unstable veterans. I mean, you take a guy who indiscriminately shoots at vehicles there, and kills people on whim, to give him the same rifle and rhetoric and hire him as a police officer. It is not surprising that they get itchy and shoot someone. 09/11 also killed the last semblance of American objection to the police state. Some of the stuff today I don't think they could be as openly flagrant about had it not been for 09/11. Throughout the years they have been becoming more and more comfortable.

"A nation of sheep begets a government of wolves."