Law Enforcement–Perpetrated Homicides. Tom Barker

under a variety of circumstances having little to do with police shootings. There was a real need for a typology or classification of police homicides. My preliminary search found multiple law enforcement homicides, including intentional murders, occurred before Michael Brown was shot to death. The police homicides found in my search of a convenience sample of police violence cases, combined with decades of researching misconduct and crime, buttressed by my personal experiences were used to develop a rough model of a typology of police-perpetrated homicides.

      Selected Examples of LEO-Perpetrated Homicides

      Many of the following selected cases come from a “List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016” (Wikipedia.org/wiki/List…by_law-enforcement_officers_in_the United States). The examples in no way portray a scientific quantitative analysis of police homicides; however, they represent the variety of LEO-perpetrated homicides three years before and up to the death of Michael Brown in 2014 for the purpose of typology development. Cases two years after Brown’s police homicide were also included. The examples come from open-source records and not official statistics, a recommended source for information on police shootings (Zimring, 2017). However, the open-source data describes the nature of the events presented. Therefore, it was possible to go to the original newspaper sources for additional information, a necessity for typology development. The incidents are listed by preliminary type—for example, justified shootings, accidental, suicide by cop, death from non-deadly devices, in-custody homicides, and murder.

      Fatal Accidental Shootings

      A twenty-one-year-old man in Merced, California, was killed by stray police bullets as officers repeatedly fired at an eighteen-year-old man who pointed a gun at them. The Merced police charged the eighteen-year-old for the murder under the felony homicide rule—2011.

      A firearms instructor accidentally killed a female Georgia probation officer during a training class—2011.

      A Columbus, Ohio, a man called 911 to report burglars in his home and was shot and killed by the responding officer, a seventeen-year police veteran. A gun was found near the victim, but the police did not confirm where the weapon came from or if the victim had it in his hand when he was shot (Manning, July 20, 2012).

      A forty-one-year-old female hostage was killed in a Stockton, California, shootout between the police and two bank robbers—2014.

      A “Cops” television crew member was accidentally shot and killed by an Omaha, Nebraska police officer. He was covering a shootout between police and armed robbers.

      A retired Pennsylvania State Police Corporal pleaded guilty to five counts of recklessly endangering another person. There were five troopers, including one who died, in the room when the Corporal negligently fired a loaded weapon (Clark, May 19, 2015).

      NYPD officers responding to a stabbing incident killed the assailant and accidentally killed the victim—2014.

      Friendly Fire Police Homicides

      A retired ATF special agent trying to arrest a pharmacy robber in December 2011 was fatally shot by an off-duty officer.

      Lakewood, Colorado police officer, was killed by another officer when responding to shots fired call—2012.

      A San Francisco, California detective sergeant was killed by another officer while they were making a probation check—2014.

      Vehicular Police Homicides

      A sixty-two-year-old man driving on a moped in the center-driving lane was struck and killed by a speeding Firerest, Washington deputy responding to a backup call. The officer making the backup call was looking for someone who fled a traffic stop—2011.

      

      A female Avondale Estates, Georgia, police officer was driving twice the speed limit not on an emergency call when she T-boned another vehicle killing the two occupants—February 2011. The officer was indicted on two counts of vehicular homicide and reckless driving. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years with serving three in prison (Anon February 6, 2015).

      A Dallas, Texas, police officer following an ambulance struck and killed a forty-three-year-old female pedestrian at 3 a.m. on January 22, 2012. The officer was exceeding the speed limit without his emergency equipment—lights and siren on. It was ruled that the deceased victim did not yield the right of way to a marked police vehicle (Heinz, January 23, 2012).

      An Atlanta police officer was fired and charged with second-degree vehicular homicide after his police car traveling at high speed on an emergency call struck a BMW killing the driver (Richardson, M. July 26, 2012).

      A Tucson, Arizona, officer responding to a fight call with his lights and siren on struck and killed a pedestrian crossing the street—2012.

      A female pedestrian was struck and killed by a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, police vehicle when she ran in front of the patrol car. Witnesses say she was reading a text or running to catch a bus and not paying attention—2012.

      A Baltimore, Maryland, police officer on an emergency run to a shooting struck and killed a pedestrian—2012.

      A Los Angeles County deputy struck and killed a bicyclist in the bike lane. The deputy was distracted by his mobile digital computer—2013.

      A Minneapolis, Minnesota officer, responding to a shooting call ran a red light and struck a motorcycle killing the driver and injuring his passenger—2013.

      A sixty-year-old Portsmouth, Virginia woman was struck and killed by a police vehicle, not on an emergency run—2013.

      A New York State Police SUV struck a thirty-year-old Au Sable, New York woman and her small children. The woman was killed. The state trooper failed to yield the right of way—2014.

      Suffolk County, New York Sheriff’s deputies were responding to an emergency call when they struck and killed a pedestrian—2014.

      A Franklin Township police officer driving 20 miles per hour over the speed limit without his lights and siren on struck and killed a ten-year-old boy crossing the street—2014

      Justified LEO Fatal Shootings

      Clear and Present Danger Police Homicides

      An on-duty Santa Maria, California, police officer was fatally shot by other Santa Maria officers when he resisted arrest for illegal sexual relations with a female Police Explorer—2012.

      

      Malden, Massachusetts, police officers were pursuing an armed bank robbery suspect when he shot three times at the officers. The suspect had carjacked three vehicles in his escape attempt. He was driving the third vehicle when the officer shot and killed him—2012.

      Miami, Florida, officers shot and killed a naked man while he was eating the face off another naked man on a public causeway—2012.

      A New Bedford, Massachusetts, man was fatally shot in 2012 by gang unit detectives after he stabbed one of the detectives with a hunting knife.

      Two Charleston, West Virginia, police officers pulled over a man, and an altercation developed. The suspect took one of the officer’s gun and shot both officers. One officer died at the scene and the other a week later. The suspect fled and was involved in a shootout with a third officer. This officer although wounded killed the suspect—2012.

      Two Philadelphia officers responded to a fight call. One of the combatants turned to the officers with a knife and was shot to death.

      A Riverside, California, man was shot to death after he rammed a police car with a stolen car—2013.

      A Santa Monica, California, man went on a killing spree that left four dead and five wounded. He was cornered in a college library and killed in a shootout with police. He wore body armor and a helmet and carried several firearms—2013.

      A Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police officer was indicted for manslaughter after shooting a black man carrying an unloaded pellet gun down the street. The man had just bought it at a pawnshop. There was conflicting testimony in the case. The officer received