Title: Fatal shootings by on-duty police officers: An analysis | The Washington Post
Headings: Among the thousands of fatal shootings at the hands of police since 2005, only 54 officers have been charged, a Post analysis found. Most were cleared or acquitted in the cases that have been resolved.
Thousands dead, few prosecuted
Among the thousands of fatal shootings at the hands of police since 2005, only 54 officers have been charged, a Post analysis found. Most were cleared or acquitted in the cases that have been resolved.
'As soon as I fired the shot, I knew the threat was done'
Coleman 'Duke' Brackney
Most of the police officers were white, most of the victims were black
Michael Brelo
Of the 54 police officer charges …
21 not convicted
11 convicted
19 pending
3 other
Other videos of police shootings

Content: And when they are convicted or plead guilty, they’ve tended to get little time behind bars, on average four years and sometimes only weeks. Jurors are very reluctant to punish police officers, tending to view them as guardians of order, according to prosecutors and defense lawyers. The definition of “officers” used in the analysis extends beyond local police to all government law enforcement personnel who are armed, including sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers. The analysis included some shootings that officers described as accidental. There is no accurate tally of all the cases­ of police shootings across the country, even deadly ones. The FBI maintains a national database of fatal shootings by officers but does not require police departments to keep it updated. 'As soon as I fired the shot, I knew the threat was done'
Ten years after killing an unarmed man in downtown Detroit, Michigan State Trooper Jay Morningstar remembers the event that changed his life. Play Video
(Whitney Leaming / The Washington Post)
O ver the past year, a series of controversial police killings of unarmed victims — including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Tamir Rice in Cleveland and Eric Garner on Staten Island — has raised questions over what it takes for officers to face criminal ­charges. Often, the public is divided over whether the police went too far. Only in rare cases­ do prosecutors and grand juries decide that the killing cannot be justified.