California’s system for tracking deadly police
shootings is plagued by confusion and inadequate oversight, further clouding
public knowledge of an officer’s greatest power.
At least one in every five fatal shootings
across Southern California isn’t counted in official statewide and national
homicide reports, a Register investigation has found. Police shoot and kill
more often than the numbers reflect.
The newspaper identified widespread reporting
flaws by comparing state data and district attorney records from hundreds of
shootings between 2007 and 2011, the latest year available. At least 66 fatal
shootings weren’t disclosed as required by state law.
The unreported shootings involved 30 law
enforcement agencies, most of which were unaware the cases hadn’t been counted
in official reports until contacted by the Register. Most acknowledged error
and promised an internal review of reporting practices.
One agency, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department, has already adopted new policies aimed at preventing mistakes in
response to the newspaper’s findings. Others have provided additional training
to records staff and homicide detectives.
“Thank you for really bringing this to our
attention,” said Jodi Miller, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County
Sheriff’s Department, which didn’t report at least 14 fatal shootings during
the five-year period. "The training issues have been corrected.”
The 66 shootings involved agencies large and
small, urban and rural, in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and San Diego
counties. The Register was unable to similarly review Riverside County, because
its district attorney doesn’t maintain records of police shooting
investigations after one year.
After Ontario police were informed about one
unreported case, they found three others had been overlooked, too. Irvine
police said they were disappointed that one 2008 case was accidentally missed.
A man carrying an assault rifle was fatally shot after a nearly two-hour
standoff with SWAT officers.
“I remember it quite vividly. I spent quite a
lot of time with his wife,” Irvine Cmdr. Julia Engen said. “Of course we don’t
do a lot of these but that’s not an excuse. ... We just did it wrong.”
By failing to report so many shootings,
agencies have impaired the public’s ability to monitor broad trends in deadly
force. A comprehensive account of shootings could be used to pinpoint patterns
in the industry or at individual agencies.
A Register analysis of the official statistics
reported between 2007 and 2011 found:
• Despite violent crime falling by nearly 25
percent over the period, the four counties’ agencies reported fatally shooting
roughly the same number of people each year. In 2011, the number of fatal
shootings per violent crime reached a five-year high.
• The death toll included a disproportionate
number of African Americans. Though roughly 6 percent of Southern Californians
are black, African Americans accounted for about 22 percent of those fatally
shot by police.
•
Authorities reported more fatal shootings per capita in San Bernardino and
Inglewood than any other large city in the region. The cities had eight and
seven deaths per 100,000 residents, respectively. By comparison, the Southern
California agencies collectively reported about two deaths per 100,000
residents
