Police Shootings / Possible Abuse Threads [merged]

In hundreds of deaths where police used force meant to stop someone without killing them, officers violated well-known guidelines for safely restraining and subduing people — not simply once or twice, but multiple times.

Most violations involved pinning people facedown in ways that could restrict their breathing or stunning them repeatedly with Tasers, an Associated Press investigation found.

Some officers had little choice but to break policing best practices — safety guidelines that are recommended by government agencies, law enforcement groups and training experts — to save a life or protect someone.

Many other violations were harder to explain. Officers at times prematurely resorted to weapons or physical holds during routine calls or misread a person’s confusion as defiance in medical emergencies, setting off a string of mistakes. In other cases, they kept applying force even after they had people handcuffed and controlled.

For its investigation, AP catalogued 1,036 deaths over a decade’s time after officers had used force not involving their guns. In about half, medical officials ruled that law enforcement caused or contributed to the deaths, but they usually didn’t mention whether policing best practices were followed.

Counting violations of best practices also was difficult when departments didn’t document important details or withheld their files. But based on a review of tens of thousands of pages of police and court records, as well as hundreds of hours of body-camera video footage, AP found:

— Officers breached the guidelines in three or more ways in roughly 440 deaths, or about 45% of the time. In others, a single mistake sometimes fueled life-threatening injuries.

— Many who died were on drugs or alcohol, or had underlying medical conditions, making them more vulnerable to misapplied force, just as best practices forewarned.


— In about 30% of the deaths where police went outside the guidelines multiple times, the officers or bystanders were facing imminent or potential danger. Safety practices may excuse officers under those circumstances.


Because of how policing is set up in the United States, there are no national rules for how officers apply force. Best practices provide some direction but aren’t mandatory. In the end, individual departments or states set their own policies and training.…….


https://apnews.com/article/e79c708e9123aac2e40dcefd64cce08f