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What are the real statistics about officer shootings?

by | Jul 12, 2018 | Wrongful Death |

There is a lot of talk in the media about law enforcement overstepping and wrongful deaths due to this. Specifically, when it comes to shooting deaths of suspects, people like to shout statistics without ever really doing the research to find out what the truth is. There are a lot of assumptions about this subject in Texas. Here’s a look at the real facts and information about officer-involved shootings, according to The Daily Wire.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that law enforcement officers are targeting minorities when using excessive force. However, the facts show a different picture. To being with, when looking at crime statistics, minorities are committing the majority of the crimes in large cities, such as New York, which means officers will interact more often with minority suspects than white suspects. This can lead to skewed perceptions.

Statistics show, though, that officer-involved shootings resulting in the death of a white suspect happened twice as much as shootings involving the death of a black suspect. It does not help that FBI data shows that cops are over 18 percent more likely to be killed by a black suspect than the cop is to kill the suspect.

Furthermore, while research does show that an unarmed black suspect is more likely to die as a result of a run-in with officers, unarmed shootings are not typical. Most victims of officer shootings were armed with a gun or other deadly weapon.

Looking at statistics can help paint a clear picture of what is really happening when it comes to crime. This information is for education and is not legal advice.

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