CINCINNATI (AP) - A new analysis shows that the number of fatal shootings involving Cincinnati police officers since 2010 is on the rise in comparison to the previous decade.
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s investigation (https://cin.ci/2k2gxSk ) found that the average rate per year of police-involved shootings in Cincinnati since 2010 is double that of the 2000s, when there were 12 total deaths. So far this decade, 18 people have died.
Chief Eliot Isaac expressed “alarm” over the statistics, but declined to speculate on why the number of fatal police shootings has increased.
“There’s nothing I can pinpoint right now that can explain it . but I am open to further analysis,” Isaac said.
Local Black Lives Matter organizer Brian Taylor said police would be shedding light on institutionalized racism if they were able to explain the rise in any quantifiable way.
“There is a false narrative going around that CPD is doing better at de-escalating situations in our city with people of color,” Taylor said.
Isaac said the police department has worked hard in revising de-escalation tactics.
“We are much better at this than in the past,” Isaac said.
The analysis found that the last major rise in police shootings came in 2001, when five people were killed in confrontations with Cincinnati police. Seven people died between 2002 and 2009.
Two Cincinnati officers were killed in the line of duty since 2000.
Samuel Walker, a criminal justice professor at the University of Nebraska, said it’s a “real failure” if a department doesn’t look at big-picture trends and statistics.
“That’s what they should be doing on review boards, identifying patterns and looking at best practices elsewhere instead of each case separately as a snowflake,” Walker said.
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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, https://www.enquirer.com
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