Second chances can prove deadly. A Minnesota police officer was suspended for threatening to shoot a passenger in the head after an unauthorized high-speed chase. In Paterson, N.J., an officer threw a handcuffed woman to the ground and strangled her. In Little Rock, a patrol officer was allowed to rack up 36 sustained misconduct allegations and at least 65 days of suspension. Each officer went on to be involved in a deadly encounter with the public in cases where the force – whether physical restraints, blows or weapons such as a Taser – is termed less lethal. Experts believe there are certain past actions, such as multiple excessive use-of-force cases, domestic violence, and mental health concerns, that agencies should not overlook when hiring or retaining officers. However, national disciplinary standards are haphazard and disparate, and early-warning systems meant to identify troubled officers often fail.
The Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism, in collaboration with The Associated Press, examined officers’ personnel and disciplinary records, citizen complaints, and training and departmental commendations through thousands of public records requests across the nation. These officers were involved in using physical force on a person who later died from 2012 through 2021. Because disciplinary systems vary greatly from department to department, and not all records are publicly available, a complete statistical analysis is not possible. A review of more than 350 officers involved in some 165 deaths during that decade revealed nearly three dozen example s of officers who had previously been disciplined for violent, criminal, or dangerously negligent offenses. “If you look at the Derek Chauvins of the world, and you look at their history, you will see that there were certain alerts that should have been triggered long before they got to the point where they were using deadly force,” said Vernon Herron, director of officer safety and wellness for the Baltimore Police Department. Herron was referring to the former Minnesota police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, who died from the same kind of force studied in this investigation.
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