by Jim Rose in economics of crime, politics - USA

The Washington Post wrote a wonderful investigative journalism article today on police shootings in the USA. The Washington Post started with a Wisconsin state trooper murdered in a shoot-out with an escaping bank robber.

The young state trooper was on his first solo patrol. State Trooper Trevor Casper was tailing a bank robber who suddenly turned his car back on him and shot repeatedly at the state trooper. Both died in the gun battle. The bank robber used armour piercing ammunition to pierce the body armour of the state trooper.

Source: Investigation: Police shootings – Washington Post.



I have augmented the graphics of the Washington Post by breaking it down for shooting of blacks, which is the main political controversy in the USA at the moment. In the chart above I broke down those with signs of mental illness only when they were attacking with a deadly weapon to avoid clutter in what is already a busy pie chart.

With your help, we've counted 928 people killed in the US by police this year. Send us tips @thecounted. https://t.co/s8ahmm6ZdK—

The Counted (@thecounted) October 23, 2015

The big secret again from the Washington Post database is don’t confront armed police with a weapon. Most people who are shot by police are either attacking police or brandishing a weapon.

Of 800 fatal shootings by police in 2015, 595 occurred after a range of violent crimes wapo.st/on-duty-under-… https://t.co/cYtbY2ohwP—

Post Graphics (@PostGraphics) October 24, 2015

Police officers who shoot an unarmed suspect at a safe distance are highly likely to be charged as I have previously argued. The Washington Post found that only 5% of the police shootings it reviewed for 2015 were suspicious in terms of police misconduct.

Source: Investigation: Police shootings – Washington Post.