The 21 fatal shootings by Los Angeles police outpaced the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which had 14; the Houston Police Department, which had 12; and Chicago, which had eight people die from police shootings in 2015, according to the report.
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KPCC found that countywide, people with mental illness were the targets of 11 percent of officer-involved shootings from 2010-2014, according to District Attorney reports.
One of the nation’s largest law enforcement organizations has released what it’s calling their most comprehensive data on their use of force incidents.
Last year, LAPD had over 1.5 million contacts with the public and less than 1,950 resulted in any type of use of force, the report found.
USA police have triggered huge criticism and mass protests by fatal shootings of unarmed people, especially African Americans and in some cases mentally ill people.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the department’s report is meant to “build a framework” for further discussion with the community and analysis of how shootings happen. That means 35 percent of those shot at by police were Black, while Blacks make up just 9 percent of the city’s population.
Like all shootings by LAPD officers, the deadly encounter will be reviewed by the district attorney’s office, Police Commission and its inspector general.
The officer was not injured in the incident and did not return fire, Williams said.
Commissioner Robert Saltzman said he was impressed with the “relative nimbleness” of the department to respond to increases in mental health issues, homelessness issues and the effects of drug and alcohol use on the street.
Capt. John McMahon told the commission it’s also important to look at crime and victim statistics for context when looking at the percentage of Black people shot by police.
Tuesday’s commission meeting was disrupted for several minutes after two dozen protesters stood up when Beck began speaking.
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“We don’t know if they knew it was a police officer”, he said. A small group of protesters also staged a Skid Row-area rally to mark the date.
