2020 stats on police shootings

The purpose of this letter is not to express an opinion, nor minimize the loss and value of loved ones, nor criticize law enforcement. The purpose of this letter is to provide the public with actual data in order to enable people to effectively sort through all of the narratives that are being circulated throughout the media.

The following statistics were obtained through review of the Washington Post police shootings and “Mapping Police Violence” databases and further digging through local media coverage. Statistics are as of 1/30/21 and pertain to the number of individuals shot and killed by police during the months of January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020: White-448; Black-245; Hispanic-184; Native American-11; Asian-10; Pacific Islander-9; Race cannot be verified-130. Total: 1,037

Individuals 21 years of age and under: Black- 33 (15-21); Hispanic-17

(17-21); White-17 (1621); Pacific Islander-3 (16-21); Asian-1 (20); Race unknown-4 (18-21).

Individuals 22 years of age to 30: White-84; Black-80; Hispanic-61; Native American-6; Asian-1; Pacific Islander-1; Race Unknown-19.

Individuals 31-50: White-250; Black-105; Hispanic-89; Pacific Islander-5; Native American-4; Asian-4; Race unknown-53.

Individuals 51-70: White-82; Black-25; Hispanic-13; Asian-2; Native American-1; Race Unknown-20.

Individuals 71 and older: White-7 (73-85); Black-1 (88); Race unknown-3 (73-83).

Age unknown: White-8; Hispanic-4; Asian-2; Black-1; Race unknown-31.

The yearly totals that I came up with differ from those reported by the Washington Post and “Mapping Police Violence” databases for the following reasons:

1. Some cases reported in the Washington Post database were not found in the “Mapping Police Violence” database and vice versa.

2. For each case reported in both databases, I looked for the most recent media reports. In many cases, these more recent reports came out several days, weeks or even months after the initial media reports and contained pertinent information not found in the initial media reports. In several cases, the coroner eventually determined that the fatal shot did not come from law enforcement, but was selfinflicted.

3. For those familiar with “Mapping Police Violence,” I only report the cases that occur in the line of duty and involve a police officer interacting with a person of interest. Christopher Nance Porterville