According to the national database , an average of have been killed annual during interactions with police since 2000. And about 70% of those killings happen with guns.
鈥�2020 is off the hook,鈥� said Brian Burghart, Fatal Encounters鈥� founder and executive director. 鈥淭here will be more people who died during police interactions [this year] than any other year in our records.鈥�
Burghart estimates that the total number of deadly encounters this year will top 2,000. And, he said, 鈥淎bout 60% percent of those deaths will happen because of gunshots.鈥�
At the same time, across the country, people are demanding more accountability and transparency from police departments 鈥� especially when deadly force is used. In response, cities like Dallas; Washington, D.C.; Scottsdale, Arizona and others are implementing new policies that require local law enforcement to release body-cam footage soon after officers shoot people or are accused of using excessive force, although the policies vary from city to city.
In order to better understand these policies, we tried to get a better handle on how often police kill people.
鈥業t鈥檚 A Big Deal鈥�: The Killings Have Lasting Effects
Throughout 2020, there have been several high-profile, highly scrutinized incidents where police officers have killed. , , , . But beyond those tragic incidents, it鈥檚 worth asking whether Americans should be concerned about the number of people dying at the hands of law enforcement. Frank Edwards, a criminal justice professor at Rutgers University, says yes.
鈥淧olice violence is the sixth leading cause for young men in the United States,鈥� he said.
Edwards researches state violence and its impact on racial inequality and public health. And according to him, the sorts of police violence that result in death are not limited to gunshot wounds.
鈥淕unshots are overwhelming[ly] the largest cause of death in use-of-force incidents,鈥� he explained. 鈥淏ut when we include other causes of death from use-of-force incidents, vehicles tend to be a big source of death in policing. So, collisions from high-speed chases are pretty common.鈥�
The other ways people die during police interactions, Edwards said, include 鈥渄eath by Taser, pepper spray, physical restraint and other forms of physical injuries like being struck by a club.鈥�
Brian Burghart said these sorts of deadly police interactions go unnoticed because media outlets have done a poor job of accounting for and reporting on the deaths. He believes the country as a whole has relied too much on government messaging.
鈥淯ntil Fatal Encounters started, people believed what the federal government was saying,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople just believed what they were told.鈥�
Burghart said that media organizations that made this mistake led to communities of color being hurt by police. Edwards agrees: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just one death. Death has a psychological effect on entire communities. And that can end up creating a really toxic mix of forces that can hold a community down.鈥�
Edwards said police killings, which happen more often per capita to people of color more than white people, destroy economic progress, lead to worse overall health and create an inadequate educational environment.
Do Police-Worn Body Cameras Lead To Better Policing?
Dallas has one of the largest police departments in the country, and the city has on body-worn cameras over the past several years. And the officers wearing the cameras turn them on during all their interactions.
The hope, the city officials said in 2015, was that cameras would provide more transparency. But community members say that hasn鈥檛 worked exactly as planned because of incidents like the 2014 shooting of Jason Harrison.
The 38-year-old鈥檚 mother, Shirley, had called 9-1-1 on her son because he was 鈥渙ff the chain鈥� and 鈥渋ncoherent.鈥�
When police arrived and knocked on Shirley Harrison鈥檚 door, she walked out shaking her head and looking annoyed. She explained her son鈥檚 mental illness to officers by saying he was 鈥淏ipolar, schizo.鈥� Then Jason walked to the door holding a screwdriver with the tips of his fingers.
The officers immediately asked Jason to drop the screwdriver, but things escalated quickly. Before Shirley Harrison could even say 鈥楧on鈥檛 shoot,鈥� 鈥� officers had shot Jason Harrison five times.
Just 6 seconds after Jason appeared at the door, he was dying on the ground
So, with body cameras in Dallas capturing all sorts of interactions 鈥� deadly ones like this, along with routine ones 鈥� it鈥檚 worth asking: Are the cameras improving policing?
鈥淏ody-worn body cameras have proven to have some effect at some agencies, but not to have the same effect at other agencies,鈥� said Seth Stoughton.
Stoughton鈥檚 a former police officer and investigator who studies and writes about policing at the University of South Carolina. And Stoughton says there can definitely be benefits to cameras. He says they provide more information about questionable incidents and can lead to better community and police engagement. But, he says, their mileage may vary.
鈥淔or example, Las Vegas showed a statistically significant decrease in use of force and a significant decrease in civilian complaints,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut Washington, D.C.鈥檚 Metropolitan Police Department .鈥�
Stoughton says factors like whether or not officers are required to record interactions, and whether supervisors review video and hold officers accountable play a big role in the success of police-worn body cameras.
Another factor is whether departments have consistent policies about releasing body camera footage.
鈥淭hat protects the agency from accusations of unseemly delay and it also lets the public know 鈥楲ook, good, bad or indifferent, we will make sure you get the video if there鈥檚 an issue, we will own it,鈥� 鈥� Stoughton said.
Tonya McClary, Dallas鈥� director of community police oversight agrees with Stoughton. As the city鈥檚 first-ever police monitor, McClary reviews citizens鈥� complaints about police officers.
Recently, she partnered with city manager T.C. Broadnax and former Police Chief Rene茅 Hall to craft a policy that requires DPD to release body-cam footage within 72 hours of someone being hurt or dying during an interaction with officers.
鈥淚 would rather see officers have body-worn cameras than not,鈥� McClary said. 鈥淚 feel that a lot of things have been brought to light because of the use of body-worn cameras and in-car cameras.鈥�
Still, she warns that we shouldn鈥檛 put all of our eggs in the police body camera basket.
鈥淚 was one of those people that when they said, 鈥極h! We鈥檙e gonna start giving police departments cameras!鈥� That this was going to revolutionize, you know, police behavior. And I am really shocked by the number of times that it doesn鈥檛,鈥� said McClary.
Will Making The Videos Public Change Things?
John Fullinwider is a longtime activist in Dallas. He鈥檚 been marching on the city鈥檚 streets since 1977. Fullinwider is a co-founder of the group Mothers Against Police Brutality. And he鈥檚 never been surprised by the fact that police-worn body cameras haven鈥檛 drastically improved policing in Dallas.
鈥淭he video doesn鈥檛 prevent the shooting,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it does allow you a way to investigate the shooting properly. I mean, you really could say 鈥楴o video, no justice.鈥� 鈥�
Fullinwider attended a silent vigil last week in front of Dallas Police headquarters. Moms sat in front of empty body bags, wearing veils over their faces.
And Fullinwider told me body cams and policies requiring police departments to release footage are worthwhile. But he鈥檚 still skeptical: 鈥淟et鈥檚 see what happens when there鈥檚 a controversial shooting or the video tape makes the officer look bad. And then we鈥檒l see if they release it.鈥�
Dorothy Osteen-Davis was one of the moms at the vigil. Her son Bertrand while unarmed during an anxiety attack in 2015. The two officers involved were never charged. Both officers had previously killed others in separate highly scrutinized incidents. They weren鈥檛 charged then, either.
Because of her experience, Davis doesn鈥檛 have faith in body cameras or the DPD鈥檚 new policy.
鈥淵ou know, they can have body cameras and still shoot people and cover it up, because they do it all the time,鈥� she said.
New camera and video release policies aim to repair that sort of mistrust. But experts like Seth Stoughton and officials dealing with this day-to-day like Tonya McClary say police-worn body cameras and the videos they provide are merely a tool. Real change, they say, comes from the top 鈥� in the form of training and accountability.
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