Sadly, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 1,173 civilians having been shot, 248 of whom were Black, as of December 2024. In 2023, there were 1,164 fatal police shootings. Additionally, the rate of fatal police shootings among Black Americans was much higher than that for any other ethnicity, standing at 6.1 fatal shootings per million of the population per year between 2015 and 2024. Police brutality in the U.S. In recent years, particularly since the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, police brutality has become a hot button issue in the United States. The number of homicides committed by police in the United States is often compared to those in countries such as England, where the number is significantly lower. Black Lives Matter The Black Lives Matter Movement, formed in 2013, has been a vocal part of the movement against police brutality in the U.S. by organizing “die-ins”, marches, and demonstrations in response to the killings of black men and women by police. While Black Lives Matter has become a controversial movement within the U.S., it has brought more attention to the number and frequency of police shootings of civilians.

The killing of Tyre Nichols in January 2023 by Memphis Police Officers has reignited debates about police brutality in the United States. Between 2013 and 2024, over 1,000 people have been killed by police in every year. Some of the most infamous examples include the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, and the shooting of Breonna Taylor earlier that year. Within this time period, the most people killed by police in the United States was in 2023, at 1,353 people. Police Violence in the U.S. Police violence is defined as any instance where a police officer’s use of force results in a civilian’s death, regardless of whether it is considered justified by the law. While many people killed by police in the U.S. were shot, other causes of death have included tasers, vehicles, and physical restraints or beatings. In the United States, the rate of police shootings is much higher for Black Americans than it is for any other ethnicity and recent incidents of police killing unarmed Black men and women in the United States have led to widespread protests against police brutality, particularly towards communities of color. America’s Persistent Police Problem Despite increasing visibility surrounding police violence in recent years, police killings have continued to occur in the United States at a consistently high rate. In comparison to other countries, police in the U.S. have killed people at a rate three times higher than police in Canada, and 60 times the rate of police in England. While U.S. police have killed people in almost all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, New Mexico was reported to have the highest rate of people killed by the police in the United States, with 8.03 people per million inhabitants killed by police.

As of December 31, the U.S. police shot 1,173 people to death in 2024. In 2023, 1,164 people were shot to death by police in the United States. Police treatment Since as early as the 18th century, police brutality has been a significant issue in the United States. Black Americans have been especially marginalized by police officers, as they have faced higher rates of fatal police shootings compared to other ethnicities. Disparities also exist in perceptions of police treatment depending on ethnicity. A majority of Black Americans think that Black and White people do not receive equal police treatment, while more than half of White and Hispanic Americans think the same. Police reform The upsurge in Black Lives Matter protests in response to the killing of Black Americans as a result of police brutality has created a call for police reform. In 2019, it was found that police killings decreased by a quarter in police departments that implemented a policy that requires officers to use all other means before shooting. Since the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, 21 states, including New York and California, have passed bills that focused on police supervision.

In the United States, more men than women are shot to death by the police. As of October 22, the U.S. police shot 904 men and 44 women to death in 2024. In 2023, the police shot 1,107 men and 48 women to death.

This is a set of csv files including a number of variables including fatal police shootings and other crime and socioeconomic covariates at different levels of geographical aggregation from 2013-2016. Five of the files use only the Washington Post data covering years 2015 and 2016, whereas the other five files utilize fatal police shootings of civilians for years 2013-2016, combining the Lott & Moody (2016) data for years 2013-2015 and Washington Post data for 2016. Other variables are included from the American Community Survey (ACS), the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS), Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), the US Census, and the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The base file is the county-level data. The two files labelled "tenk" consist of regions with at least 10,000 residents. Counties with fewer than 10,000 residents are combined with adjacent counties, ranked by population in ascending order, so that counties with fewer than 10,000 residents are iteratively combined with adjacent neighbors with the fewest residents until they reach the threshold of 10,000 residents. The same algorithm is used to produce regions with 100,000 and 1 million residents. The final two files are state-level aggregations.

As of October 22, police in the United States had shot 23 unarmed people to death in 2024. The most common weapon for a victim of a fatal police shooting to be carrying is a gun. In 2023, 717 people carrying a gun were shot and killed by the U.S. police.

The rate of fatal police shootings in the United States shows large differences based on ethnicity. Among Black Americans, the rate of fatal police shootings between 2015 and December 2024 stood at 6.1 per million of the population per year, while for white Americans, the rate stood at 2.4 fatal police shootings per million of the population per year. Police brutality in the United States Police brutality is a major issue in the United States, but recently saw a spike in online awareness and protests following the murder of George Floyd, an African American who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. Just a few months before, Breonna Taylor was fatally shot in her apartment when Louisville police officers forced entry into her apartment. Despite the repeated fatal police shootings across the country, police accountability has not been adequate according to many Americans. A majority of Black Americans thought that police officers were not held accountable for their misconduct, while less than half of White Americans thought the same. Political opinions Not only are there differences in opinion between ethnicities on police brutality, but there are also major differences between political parties. A majority of Democrats in the United States thought that police officers were not held accountable for their misconduct, while a majority of Republicans that they were held accountable. Despite opposing views on police accountability, both Democrats and Republicans agree that police should be required to be trained in nonviolent alternatives to deadly force.

We test for a “Ferguson Effect” by studying how police effort responds to different incidents of police violence. We do so using two settings in Minneapolis: (1) George Floyd’s murder, and (2) police-involved shootings. We find that following George Floyd’s death, arrests and police-initiated calls decreased by 61 and 69 percent, respectively. By comparison, arrests and police-initiated calls decreased by 3 and 1.5 percent following police-involved shootings. We conclude that incidents of police violence generate “de-policing”, and the effect is much larger following highly publicized incidents.This folder contains the main data and programs used to conduct the analysis in the paper.

In 2020, voter-approved Measure B created a new independent Commission on Police Practices (CPP) that replaced the Community Review Board on Police Practices (CRB). The CPP independently investigates officer-involved shootings, in-custody deaths, & other significant incidents in a process that is transparent and accountable to the community. The CPP also evaluates SDPD policies, practices, training, and protocols. This dataset includes all cases the CPP reviewed and closed out since the beginning of FY 2020. The mission of the Commission is to hold law enforcement accountable to the community and to increase community trust in law enforcement, resulting in increased safety for both the community and law enforcement. To learn more, visit sandiego.gov/cpp/about Each case in this dataset is identified by a unique case id and case number. A single case may involve multiple allegations, multiple complainants and multiple officers. Each officer named in the complaint is assigned an anonymous person id in the pid field that is unique for that case id. Complainant, cases and allegations are in separate files that can be joined on the id and case_number fields. Each complainant named in the complainant file is assigned an anonymous person id in the complainant_id field that is unique for that case id. The body worn camera details file included with this dataset lists each officer (pid) per complaint and whether that officer had a body worn camera on or off during the incident under review.

In 2023, 1,190 deadly police shootings occurred in the United States, a slight increase from 1,156 in the previous year. During this same period, there were 322 Black people killed by the police.

Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) Database and Statistical Analysis. Data is updated after there is an officer involved shooting.PIU#Incident # - the number associated with either the incident or used as reference to store the items in our evidence rooms Date of Occurrence Month - month the incident occurred (Note the year is labeled on the tab of the spreadsheet)Date of Occurrence Day - day of the month the incident occurred (Note the year is labeled on the tab of the spreadsheet)Time of Occurrence - time the incident occurredAddress of incident - the location the incident occurredDivision - the LMPD division in which the incident actually occurredBeat - the LMPD beat in which the incident actually occurredInvestigation Type - the type of investigation (shooting or death)Case Status - status of the case (open or closed)Suspect Name - the name of the suspect involved in the incidentSuspect Race - the race of the suspect involved in the incident (W-White, B-Black)Suspect Sex - the gender of the suspect involved in the incidentSuspect Age - the age of the suspect involved in the incidentSuspect Ethnicity - the ethnicity of the suspect involved in the incident (H-Hispanic, N-Not Hispanic)Suspect Weapon - the type of weapon the suspect used in the incidentOfficer Name - the name of the officer involved in the incidentOfficer Race - the race of the officer involved in the incident (W-White, B-Black, A-Asian)Officer Sex - the gender of the officer involved in the incidentOfficer Age - the age of the officer involved in the incidentOfficer Ethnicity - the ethnicity of the suspect involved in the incident (H-Hispanic, N-Not Hispanic)Officer Years of Service - the number of years the officer has been serving at the time of the incidentLethal Y/N - whether or not the incident involved a death (Y-Yes, N-No, continued-pending)Narrative - a description of what was determined from the investigationContact:Carol Boylecarol.boyle@louisvilleky.gov

On February 23, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed to investigate the deaths of a 36-year-old man and a 59-year-old man earlier that day.

As of November 17, New Mexico had the highest rate of people killed by police out of all U.S. states in 2024, with 12.75 people per million inhabitants killed by police in that time period, followed by Wyoming with 12.13 people per million inhabitants killed by police.

This dataset has been published by the Virginia Beach Police Department and data.virginiabeach.gov. The mission of data.virginiabeach.gov is to provide timely and accurate City information to increase government transparency and access to useful and well organized data by the general public, non-governmental organizations, and City of Virginia Beach employees.This dataset excludes incidents assigned to 14 of the 152 Incident Based Reporting Codes. The specific IBR codes excluded are outlined below: 1. Runaway2. Death Investigation3. Death, Accidental4. Death, Drowning5. Death, Suicide6. Death, Auto Fatality7. Attempted Suicide8. Officer Involved Shooting, Death9. Officer Involved Shooting, No Death10. Missing Person11. Lost Property12. Habitual Offender13. Other Non-Reportable Offenses14. SVU Information Only

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team to investigate an officer-involved shooting in Edmonton that resulted in the injury of one police officer and the death of one man.

The rate of civilians killed by police in the United States is far higher than in comparable developed democratic countries, with 33.5 people killed by police per 10 million residents in 2019. This compares 9.8 deaths per 10 million residents in Canada, and 8.5 in Australia - perhaps the two most comparable countries to the United States in many respects.

Country with the most prisoners The United States is the country with the largest number of prisoners per capita. This suggests either that they have the most criminals, or that the police make more arrests and judges hand down jail as a more frequent punishment. Again, the evidence is mixed, but home invasions are less common there. New Zealand has the highest burglary rate, seeing over three times as many break-ins as in the United States, for example.

Does weapon ownership contribute to higher number of violent attacks? Other factors may also be at play. One such factor may be gun ownership. If police shootings are more likely to happen in states with a higher number of registered weapons, one could argue that the threat of violence against police makes officers more likely to utilize deadly force. However, countries like Canada also have a high number of individual firearms licenses, indicating that this factor likely does not explain the entire effect. Social factors may also influence this statistic, such as the use of the death penalty. Still, each fatal incident is complex, and the full situation surrounding each involves many factors, meaning that a simple solution is unlikely.

ASIRT is investigating an officer-involved shooting in Calgary on May 17. 2018 that resulted in the death of a woman.

In 2023/24, the police in England and Wales fatally shot two people, compared with three in the previous reporting year, and six in 2016/17. During the same reporting year, the police used firearms twice, compared with ten times in 2022/23. In general, the police in England and Wales and in the rest of the UK do not have a tradition of carrying firearms, with the country having some of the strictest gun laws in the world. In 2023/24, out of around 147,746 police officers, just 5,861 were licensed to carry firearms in England and Wales. Comparisons with the United States Among developed economies, the United States is something of an outlier when it comes to police shootings. In 2024, it is estimated that the police in the United States fatally shot 1,173 people. There are also significant disparities based on a person's ethnicity. Between 2015 and March 2024, the rate of fatal police shootings among Black Americans was 6.1 per one million people, 2.7 per million people for Hispanic Americans and 2.4 per million people for white Americans. Gun violence overall is also far more prevalent in the United States, with 42 percent of American households owning a firearm as of 2023. Gun homicides rare in England and Wales Of the 583 homicides that took place in England and Wales in 2023/24, just 22 were committed by a person using a firearm. By far the most common method of killing was using a knife or other sharp instrument, at 262 homicides, or around 46 percent of them. Compared with twenty years ago, homicides in England and Wales have declined, falling from 1,047 in 2002/03, to just 533 in 2014/15. After this point, annual homicides rose, and by 2016/17 there were more than 700 homicides recorded in England and Wales. Although there have been some fluctuations, particularly during 2020/21 at the height of COVID-19 lockdowns.

An autopsy on a man who died while in the custody of the Edmonton Police Service has determined the cause and manner of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In 2023/24 there were 186 police related fatalities in England and Wales, compared with 198 in the previous reporting year. Of these fatalities, 68 were suicides, 32 were road traffic fatalities, 24 were deaths in or following police custody, with two fatal shootings in this reporting year. A further 60 fatalities were defined as other deaths during or following police contact.