,
20 tweets,
9 min read
Read on Twitter
1/For the past year and a half, @breeburkitt and I have worked on a statewide database of police shootings that have happened from 2011 to 2018. In our findings, we found Arizona police shoot someone every 5 days. azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…
THREAD:
THREAD:
2/Of the 600 cases between 2011 and 2018, we found police have shot 627 people, killing more than half. Arizona averaged about 78 police shootings a year. Here’s how we found and analyzed the data:
3/In December 2017, I began filing records requests with the state’s 15 county attorney’s offices and the state attorney general’s office for letters sent to police departments about the charging decisions on police shootings. Most contained basic details of a shooting.
4/When the letters didn't provide all of the details, @breeburkitt and I combed through court documents, police reports, autopsy reports and local news articles to find them.
5/We put the details into a spreadsheet identifying: the names of the officers and victims involved, whether the victim had a weapon, whether the victim had any reported mental illness and whether the officer was criminally charged. azcentral.com/storytelling/a…
6/Of the 600 police shooting cases, one led to a prosecution: Former Mesa police officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 26-year-old Daniel Shaver. A jury acquitted Brailsford.
azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
7/Here are some other key findings from our analysis:
89% percent of those shot were armed, most of them with a gun
Almost all those shot by police were men.
Mental illness was a factor in at least 15% of the 600 cases.
89% percent of those shot were armed, most of them with a gun
Almost all those shot by police were men.
Mental illness was a factor in at least 15% of the 600 cases.
8/We identified the race and ethnicity for 67% of the 627 people shot by police. Of that, this is what we found:
44% were white
39% were Hispanic
13% were black
4% were Native American
44% were white
39% were Hispanic
13% were black
4% were Native American
9/In Phoenix, we found:
-Hispanic people were shot most often. They make up 43% of Phoenix's population and 42% of those shot.
- Black people make up 7% of the city population but 14% of people shot.
- Native American people make up 2% of the population and 6% of those shot.
-Hispanic people were shot most often. They make up 43% of Phoenix's population and 42% of those shot.
- Black people make up 7% of the city population but 14% of people shot.
- Native American people make up 2% of the population and 6% of those shot.
10/Once we had our findings, @breeburkitt and I shared the numbers with experts, activists, prosecutors, police union leaders and lawyers. We also shared them with Phoenix’s police chief, mayor and city manager.
11/We got mixed reactions. Some said the analysis confirmed what they have always believed: Police in Arizona use deadly force too often. Others said it reflects the dangers of the job and a growing attitude of defiance among people who interact with police officers.
12/Others said there's no single answer to why Arizona saw the number of shootings it did.
Still, most people we interviewed agreed that having this data can help with transparency and possible solutions.
Still, most people we interviewed agreed that having this data can help with transparency and possible solutions.
13/In our analysis police shootings in Arizona, @Breeburkitt and I also focused on @PhoenixPD. Why? It’s the largest department in the state and had a record-breaking number of police shootings in 2018. azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
14/In 2018, Phoenix PD had 44 police shootings, the most in the country. Phoenix PD and other city officials have said that number is an anomaly. But our analysis found Phoenix has outpaced other similar-sized cities and bigger departments such as the LAPD, NYPD and Houston PD.
15/In an interview with @azcentral, Phoenix's Police Chief didn’t comment on our findings. Instead, she cited a @PoliceFound study that didn’t include a lot of what we found. But she has committed to improvements in how officers handle people who suffer from a mental illness.
16/@breeburkitt also profiled the fiancée of Army vet who was fatally shot by Avondale police.
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…
17/If you have information to share about a police shooting or more details about anyone in the database, email us at newstips@arizonarepublic.com or submit them here: arizona-republic.forms.fm/contribute-to-…
18/This was a team effort. Thanks to all who helped @breeburkitt and I, including: @Will_Flannigan, @JoshLing10, @pjbreenphoto, @PamReporting, @jboehm_NEWS, @theseanlogan, @snyderbrian, @justinjprice, @kimbui, @Jack_Lechich; @graceoldham123, @agnel88_philip, @pohl_jason,
20/I knew I forgot someone. Thank you, @d__woodward.
