When Police Kill

by Franklin E. Zimring

Overview

“A remarkable book.”—Malcolm Gladwell, San Francisco Chronicle

Deaths of civilians at the hands of on-duty police are in the national spotlight as never before. How many killings by police occur annually? What circumstances provoke police to shoot to kill? Who dies? The lack of answers to these basic questions points to a crisis in American government that urgently requires the attention of policy experts. When Police Kill is a groundbreaking analysis of the use of lethal force by police in the United States and how its death toll can be reduced.

Franklin Zimring compiles data from federal records, crowdsourced research, and investigative journalism to provide a comprehensive, fact-based picture of how, when, where, and why police resort to deadly force. Of the 1,100 killings by police in the United States in 2015, he shows, 85 percent were fatal shootings and 95 percent of victims were male. The death rates for African Americans and Native Americans are twice their share of the population.

Civilian deaths from shootings and other police actions are vastly higher in the United States than in other developed nations, but American police also confront an unusually high risk of fatal assault. Zimring offers policy prescriptions for how federal, state, and local governments can reduce killings by police without risking the lives of officers. Criminal prosecution of police officers involved in killings is rare and only necessary in extreme cases. But clear administrative rules could save hundreds of lives without endangering police officers.

“Roughly 1,000 Americans die each year at the hands of the police…The civilian body count does not seem to be declining, even though violent crime generally and the on-duty deaths of police officers are down sharply…Zimring’s most explosive assertion—which leaps out…—is that police leaders don’t care…To paraphrase the French philosopher Joseph de Maistre, every country gets the police it deserves.”
—Bill Keller, New York Times

“If you think for one second that the issue of cop killings doesn’t go to the heart of the debate about gun violence, think again. Because what Zimring shows is that not only are most fatalities which occur at the hands of police the result of cops using guns, but the number of such deaths each year is undercounted by more than half!…[A] valuable and important book…It needs to be read.”
—Mike Weisser, Huffington Post

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674986800
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	11/12/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Franklin E. Zimring is William G. Simon Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Part I The Character and Causes of Police Killings

1 The Double Transformation of Police Killings in America 3

2 Killings by Police: The Numbers Game 23

3 Who Dies, Where, and Why? 41

4 Only in America? Police Killings in Other Modern Nations 74

5 The Problem of Police Safety 91

6 Trends over Time in Killings of and by Police in the United States 105

7 Public Costs and Consequences 118

Part II Prevention and Control of Police Killings

8 The Missing Links: Reporting, Documentation, and Evaluation in a Federal System 143

9 Mission Impossible? The Limits and Potential of Criminal Law in Police Violence 166

10 Cops and Cameras 202

11 The Heart of the Matter: Governance and Training for Local Policing 219

12 American Possibilities, American Limits 246

Appendix 1 Elements of a National Reporting System with Required Information and Contacts for Police Shootings and Injury Reports from Departments of Police 253

Appendix 2 Notes on Killings of and by the Police in Canada 257

Appendix 3 The Guardian Six-Month Sample 259

Notes 287

References 289

Acknowledgments 295

Index 299

Editorial Reviews

This is a superb book, and an urgently needed one. Frank Zimring carefully demonstrates what is known and inexcusably unknown about fatal shooting by American police officers. Even better, he tells us how to fix the problem. This is a book full of sharp insight and wise counsel. It should be read by anyone concerned about the problem of police violence.

David Alan Sklansky

Meticulously researched.

San Francisco Chronicle - Richard Thompson Ford

Rarely has a public policy book been as necessary as When Police Kill. There is virtually no current literature on the public policy issues of police shootings and this book will fill that void.

Philip Matthew Stinson

The seminal study of killing by police.

Honolulu Civil Beat - David T. Johnson

Roughly 1,000 Americans die each year at the hands of the police…The civilian body count does not seem to be declining, even though violent crime generally and the on-duty deaths of police officers are down sharply…Police kill African-Americans at more than double their share of the population, a phenomenon Zimring painstakingly demonstrates is not explained by higher crime rates in black neighborhoods…The average number of those 1,000 deaths per year that result in felony convictions of a police officer: one. Zimring’s most explosive assertion…is that police leaders don’t care…To paraphrase the French philosopher Joseph de Maistre, every country gets the police it deserves.

New York Times - Bill Keller

A serious empirical analysis of the topic suggesting ways to reduce civilian deaths…Estimates that only roughly 1 in 200 police officers who kills a civilian is indicted, with about 1 in 1,000 convicted of a felony.

Wall Street Journal - Robert Maranto

Zimring is no stranger to the field of gun violence research, having produced formative efforts in this field for more than forty years. And if you think for one second that the issue of cop killings doesn’t go to the heart of the debate about gun violence, think again. Because what Zimring shows is that not only are most fatalities which occur at the hands of police the result of cops using guns, but the number of such deaths each year is undercounted by more than half!…[A] valuable and important book…It needs to be read.

Huffington Post - Mike Weisser

A remarkable book.

San Francisco Chronicle - Malcolm Gladwell

When Police Kill is the most comprehensive, data-driven study of the use of lethal force by police I have read. Professor Zimring's objective examination provides valuable guideposts for a way forward for both police and communities.

Ray Kelly

A remarkable book.

San Francisco Chronicle - Malcolm Gladwell

This is a superb book, and an urgently needed one. Frank Zimring carefully demonstrates what is known and inexcusably unknown about fatal shooting by American police officers. Even better, he tells us how to fix the problem. This is a book full of sharp insight and wise counsel. It should be read by anyone concerned about the problem of police violence.

David Sklansky