Police Use of Deadly Force Continues

America has seen thousands of protestors standing up to unwarranted police use of force since 2020, when the Gorge Floyd case brought the issue into focus for millions of people. The aim of protests was to bring awareness to a sober issue impacting countless communities across the country and to get police to restrict tactics that factually result in serious injury or death during police encounters.  The question now is, have the protests made any real difference?

Statistics on Race 

In 2022 killings of civilians by law enforcement maxed out at 1,176 deaths.  Inexplicably, that number detonated to over 1,200 in 2023, making it the highest number for deadly law enforcement actions in a decade. Unsurprisingly, Black people fared the worst:

• The most likely demographic to be killed by police in numbers disproportionate to their population are Blacks;
• Blacks are killed by law enforcement at triple the rate white people are killed;
• Blacks are more likely to be unarmed that white people;
• The largest group of unarmed people who were killed were people of color;
• The majority of killings by police occur following non-violent offenses, traffic stops, or mental health checks.

Troubling Facts 

Overall, police killings are declining in urban areas, but are rising in rural zip codes. They are remaining steady in suburban areas. More and more, these events involve county sheriff’s offices. Tragically, over 30 percent of individuals killed were fleeing from police on foot or in a vehicle. And the consequences for law enforcement have been minimal: all told, 98.1 percent of deaths related to law enforcement incidents have never resulted in criminal charges for officers involved in the interaction.

Maryland’s Numbers 

The statistics here in Maryland are nothing to be proud of. Of 166 killings by police, Blacks were nearly four times as likely to be killed as whites.  And what of police accountability when misconduct is alleged? Of nearly 5,000 complaints of police misconduct over a five-year period, just 11 percent of cases were ruled in civilians’ favor. When it comes to use-of-force complaints, only two percent of the more than 500 complaints were ruled in favor of civilians. Overall, the state of Maryland earned a score of 34 percent by the Police Scorecard based on data from both local and state law enforcement.  The lower the score, the more  money a state spends on policing, the more arrests occurring for low-level offenses, the more use of force on the job, and the less likely errant officers are held to account for their actions.

Advocating for You 

The dedicated LaPlata & Waldorf criminal defense attorneys at The Law Office of Hammad S. Matin, P.A. are fully aware of the problems that exist in law enforcement and will always put on a vigorous fight to achieve best outcomes for our clients.  To discuss your situation, schedule a confidential consultation today.

Source:

policescorecard.org/md