A new study based on the open-source, open-standards, StreetCred Police Killings in Context (PKIC) data project reveals that the number of unarmed civilians killed in confrontations with police is substantially lower than commonly stated in the media. At the same time, 11 officers have been arrested and indicted in five cases that appeared to prosecutors to be unjustified. The non-partisan PKIC project seeks to provide objective data and contextual facts on deadly force incidents to researchers, communities, activists, journalists and law enforcement advocacy groups.
“Police-community interactions are of critical concern to law enforcement and all Americans,” said Peter Moskos, author of, “Cop in the Hood,” who is a former Baltimore City Police Officer and an associate professor in the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The facts are important. Objective projects like StreetCred PKIC are exactly the kind of data-driven approaches needed to foster better communication and informed debate.”
The non-commercial PKIC project, whose peer-reviewers come from across law enforcement, use-of-force experts, and industry, found 125 incidents in the first eight months of 2015 in which an unarmed civilian died after an encounter with police officers.
