You see it happen every single time there’s another police shooting injury or fatality. People come out of the woodwork with their opinions. “It’s just one bad apple.” “It’s a small minority of officers.” “Those who shoot unfairly are held accountable.” But the statistics tell a different story. The team at the Law Offices of Dale K. Galipo have handled numerous police brutality cases throughout California, and we know that the statistics highlight a serious and growing problem in law enforcement. If you or someone you love has been victimized, call us at 818-347-3333 to discuss your case.
At our California police misconduct law firm, we have seen victims devastated by a routine police interaction that went awry, leaving them with permanent injuries and mental trauma. Our list of courtroom successes shows our commitment to protecting our clients’ civil rights and freedoms. One of our clients received a $23.8 million jury verdict in a police shooting case, and another received $13.5 million by a jury in a restraint case. If anyone knows what police brutality statistics look like and how people become a very real part of those devastating statistics, it’s the police misconduct attorneys at the Law Offices of Dale K. Galipo.
Statistics show that police shootings are far more common than most people think. When people think of police shootings, they tend to think of the dozen or so that make the news and go viral every year. While those cases are tragic and worthy of discussion, they are only a small piece of the puzzle. Since beginning tracking these shootings in 2016, statistics show that there are consistently around 1000 to 1100 police shootings every year. Only a small percentage of these victims seek the assistance of police misconduct law firms, despite the fact that rogue officers can often be held accountable this way.
While it may appear that police shootings are becoming more common over the years, that’s largely a side effect of social media and how easily we can gain access to footage of shootings and the circumstances surrounding them. In fact, cases of police brutality and shootings have remained relatively stable over the years. Note, though, that we don’t consider this good news—the numbers are far higher than they should be, and numbers that remain stable are not decreasing, which is what we as police misconduct attorneys would prefer to see.
Note that prior to Mapping Police Violence tracking this data in 2016, other statistics showed that there was a significant upward trend. Prior to about 2012, the number of civilians killed by law enforcement was much lower each year.
While police brutality can happen any time and in any place, there are certain trends that pop up when you look at the statistics. There are numerous reasons for this. It may be that some regions are inherently more unsafe, leading to more aggressive police actions. It may also be that certain police departments take a laissez-faire attitude to brutality among their officers, which creates a breeding ground for unrestrained violence and brutality—a trend commonly seen by police misconduct lawyers.
Across the board, nearly one-quarter of all police killings occur in the United States’ 100 largest cities. In these jurisdictions, Black individuals made up 19% of the population but accounted for nearly 40% of all killings. Among these 100 largest cities’ police departments, there is only one that did not have any police killings between January 2013 and December 2023. (Police Accountability Tool, n.d.).
Some of the cities with the highest rates of police brutality include Albuquerque, Tulsa, Spokane, Phoenix, and St. Louis. St. Louis far outpaces the rest, with an average of more than 15 police killings per one million people between 2013 and 2023 (Police Accountability Tool, n.d.).
As we hinted at in the last section, there are significant racial disparities in police brutality across the United States. Both Black individuals and Hispanic or Latino individuals are twice more likely to experience police brutality than the general population. Furthermore, Black Americans are more than twice as likely to be killed and nearly five times more likely to sustain an injury requiring medical care than white Americans (Bunn, 2022)
If you or someone you love has been injured by a reckless police officer, it’s time to contact our team of police brutality lawyers. Call us at 818-347-3333 or fill out our online contact form to discuss your case.
Sources:
Police Accountability Tool. (n.d.). Mapping Police Violence. https://mappingpoliceviolence.us/cities
Bunn, C. (2022, March 3). Black people are still killed by police at a higher rate than other groups. NBC News; NBC Universal. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/report-black-people-are-still-killed-police-higher-rate-groups-rcna17169
Dale K. Galipo is the founder and principal of The Law Offices of Dale K. Galipo, located in Woodland Hills, California. Originally hailing from a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, he graduated from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a degree in business administration and earned his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 1984. Over the years, Mr. Galipo has garnered a reputation as one of the nation's leading civil rights attorneys.Specializing in civil rights cases involving police misconduct, Mr. Galipo has demonstrated exceptional trial skills. By 2004, he was securing seven-figure jury verdicts for victims of excessive force and restraint. Remarkably, in 2011, he won ten civil... View full business profile here: Law Offices of Dale K. Galipo
