First Start With Hard Facts for Real Police, Social Reforms

The following article is the first of a series

Examples of Police Brutality, Killings:  

May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by officer Chauvin, while other officers assisted or looked on.

Here are nine more examples of black killings and brutality that should not have happened:

• Breonna Taylor (2020) — Killed in her apartment with a "no-knock" drug warrant that went bad. Breonna’s boyfriend (Walker) thought there were intruders and opened fire with a licensed handgun. Officers responded with 20 shots, killing Taylor.
• Philando Castile (2016) — Killed in a traffic stop. Castile told the officers that he had a licensed firearm. He was told not to pull it out. Castile said he was not pulling it out, but there was a back and forth exchange and the officer shot Castile seven times.
• Freddie Gray (2015) — Gray was arrested for possessing a knife. Freddie fell into a coma in the police van. He was not secured. He died a week later.
• Eric Garner (2014) — Garner was confronted by police for selling cigarettes without a tax stamp. Garner died in a choke hold.
• Michael Brown (2014) — Alerted by a store that Brown had stolen cigarillos, police pursued Brown. Officers contradicted each other about the incident that led to the fatal shooting.
• Amadou Diallo (1999) — New York Police officers mistakenly identified Diallo as a rape suspect outside his apartment. Diallo ran up the steps and reached into his pocket. Police shot, resulting in his death. Diallo was not armed.
• Abner Louima (1997) — Louima was arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub during a fight. He was brutally beaten by police and sexually assaulted.
• Malice Green (1992) — Officers pulled Green over outside a known drug house. Green reached into his glove compartment for a vial of cocaine and refused to relinquish it. An officer beat him with a flashlight, causing his death.
• Rodney King (1991) — (Los Angeles) King was violently beaten by LAPD officers after a high-speed chase. He was unarmed.

Let’s also look at cases where police killed white people.

• Tony Timpa (2016) — Timpa had schizophrenia and called 911 to say that he was off his meds, suffering from anxiety. Officers arrived and he was handcuffed. But officers pressed his body into the ground. He screamed 30 times that he could not breathe.
• Daniel Shaver (2016) — Police responded to a call that someone was brandishing a rifle in a hotel room. Police responded and shot Shaver in the hallway. The rifle was a pellet gun.
• Dylan Noble (2016) — Noble was mistakenly pursued, looking for a similar vehicle. When Noble was pulled over, police ordered him to show his hands. Instead, he showed an object that police thought was a firearm. Officers shot and killed Noble.
• Loren Simpson (2015) — Yellowstone police deputies pursued Simpson on suspicion of burglary. Police blocked Simpson and as his car approached. Police opened fire. No stolen goods were found.
• Michael Parker (2015) — Officers tried to make a traffic stop and ended up in a high-speed chase with Parker and a woman in the vehicle. Police created a road block and fired, killing Parker and injuring the woman.
• James Boyd (2014) — Officers responded to a call that Boyd was illegally camping on private property. Boyd produced two knives when approached. There was an attempt to taser Boyd and a dog was sent in. Boyd produced knives again and was shot several times.
• Alfred Redwine (2014) — Police responded to a call that Redwine was pointing a gun at two women. When officers arrived, they claim that Redwine fired the first shot. Officers shot and killed Redwine. Witnesses contradict the testimony, but a gun was found at the scene.
• Mary Hawkes (2014) — A 19-year-old woman was shot to death in a police foot chase. She was suspected of car theft and the officer claimed Hawkes pointed the gun at him. However, the officer had turned his cam off – and had done that often before.
• Pastor Jonathon Ayers (2009) — Police observed Pastor Ayers with a woman in a suspected drug transaction. Police identified themselves, but Ayers drove off, swiping an officer. An officer fired into the car and Ayers died.

None of these incidents should have happened. Police made bad or criminal mistakes. Thus, the myth that police killings always involve violent criminals is wrong. Six of the black victims had no felony record. However, Floyd, King, Garner, and Gray had an extensive arrest and felony record. None of the white victims had a felony record.

What’s more, here’s how the criminal justice fails: In only three of the black victim examples (Green, Louima, and Diallo) were officers convicted of major felonies and serving long sentences. In five cases, the police were not prosecuted.

Two cases are pending. Furthermore, in only one example was an officer convicted for killing a white person — serving just 180 days. However, the Civil Justice System has awarded large settlements; specifically, seven black victim families were awarded civil settlements, averaging $5 million. The Taylor and Floyd cases are pending.

So, most likely, there will be civil settlements in nine of the 10 cases.

Six white victim families got settlements, averaging $3.5 million. One case is pending.

Examples of police on black murder or white murder don’t provide clarity. If anything, they suggest that blacks are more likely to get a conviction against police and a civil settlement.

We'll look at data next in Part II of this article: Are Blacks More Likely than Whites to be Killed by Police?

Roger Andersen holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Wheaton College and an MBA from Oregon State University. He studied literature and history at Oxford University and international economics at the University of Leiden. Mr. Andersen began his career with PepsiCo, serving in various business planning, strategic planning, and financial management roles. He was CFO for Tonka/Kenner/Parker, CFO for Rollerblade, SVP for Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers, CEO of Young America Corporation, and CEO of The Bob Pike Group. He is the author of The Executive Calling: Corporate Success Without Selling Your Soul. Roger and his wife have two daughters. Read Roger Andersen's Reoprts — More Here.