Texas has the dubious distinction of being the second-most represented state (after California) on the Guardian’s list of “America’s deadliest counties for police killings this year.” The three Texas counties that made the 14-county list of counties with 10 or more deaths are Dallas County (.5 deaths per 100,000 residents), Tarrant County (.5) and Harris County (.4).
These three counties also account for just less than half of the officer-involved shootings I’ve been tracking since the new reporting law went live in September. Since reporting began, 43 incidents have been reported, with ten of those out of Harris County, six out of Dallas County and three out of Tarrant County. As a point of comparison, I looked at the list of the most dangerous cities in Texas, which was compiled from the FBI’s 2013 Uniform Crime Reports. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land (which Harris County is part of) comes in at number 3 on that list, and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (which Dallas and Tarrant Counties are part of) is down at number 17.
The most dangerous city in Texas, Odessa, has not reported a single officer-involved shooting since September. But this might be because they’re not complying with the new law. When I recently compared the Guardian and Washington Post databases of people killed by the police with the reports posted on the Office of the Attorney General’s website, the one death in Texas in October that was not reported to the OAG happened in West Odessa: police there shot and killed Robert Humberto Medellin after he allegedly charged at them with a knife.
Which brings me to a point I’ve made here before: law enforcement needs to comply with the law! In the coming months, I hope to start looking at the counties and departments with the most officer-involved shootings and asking how to account for differences between jurisdictions. But those comparisons will be only as reliable as the information they’re based on.
MORE (12/8): From the Houston Chronicle, which cites to this post as its source.
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8 comments:
Most officer involved shootings can boil down to non-compliance with the law and/or non-compliance with commands following an encounter. Bad shoots will happen, but they are far and few between.
That's interesting, 6:47, because neither non-compliance with commands nor the law is justification for police shooting people. If you'd said "most officer-involved shootings boil down to an officer reacting to an imminent threat on their lives or the lives of others," that'd be a stronger argument. And that may well be true. Bad shoots may be rare, but until proper data is gathered, how can anyone know?
"Bad shoots = Murder". Period. It's interesting how murder is sanitized when it involves law enforcement. ----------------- The same goes for executing innocent people. This is legalized murder and must be prosecuted as such. -----------------Being silent is being an accomplice to murder. -----------Texas has always been a good ol' boy State and will never achieve the status of a civilized place to live until the system changes.----------Today this is happening to somebody out there. Tomorrow it may be a family member. This cannot go on.
Anonymous said...
Most officer involved shootings can boil down to non-compliance with the law and/or non-compliance with commands following an encounter. Bad shoots will happen, but they are far and few between.
Theses completely false. Officers are losers with guns and a license to kill. They invent reasons to torture people. I have seen this'll my life in the SF Bay Area no less.
Correction to last post. Spell chat decided to alter my message.
I meant to say This is completely false.
Now, Now 'Anny'. You took time to correct your grammar AND failed to correct the most important part of your statement. Allow me to assist - Oh snap!, I meant to say there are some bad officers with guns. (Fwiw, don't spend time trying to correct your own grammar, try correcting the message). Just like 6:47 was in need of correction, when ever someone unfairly attempts to lump all cops into the mix, we are forced to correct.
Hopefully, the other Anny in wait will be able to sleep knowing that he / she didn't have to jump in with the usual descriptions smeared upon GFB and its readers and trollers alike when one or, two comments are deemed as anti-cop. I'm anti-bad cop but won't stand for any form of lumping the bad in with the good.
Illinois or Texas no difference corruption is the same. DA Matt Bingham in Smith county.
self reporting police shootings is a very weak response to a growing problem. Police shootings should be one of the most scrutinized actions of a government staff.
All of the evidence in a police shooting should be published to a central website for public inspection. A severe fine for noncompliance would be encouraging.
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