In 2015, The Washington Post launched a real-time police shooting database to record and analyze every fatal shooting by an on-duty police officer in the United States. In the 4½ years since, The Post has tracked nearly 4,400 fatal shootings. This is what we found:
1. Black Americans are disproportionately killed by police.
Although half of the people shot and killed by police are white, black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. They account for just 13 percent of the U.S. population, but more than a quarter of police shooting victims. The disparity is even more pronounced among unarmed victims, of whom more than a third are black.
United States population by race
Black
Hispanic
Other
White
61%
13%
18%
9%
People shot and killed by police since 2015
26%
50%
19%
5%
Unarmed people shot and killed by police since 2015
36%
42%
18%
4%
United States population by race
White
Black
Hispanic
Other
United States population by race
61%
13%
18%
9%
People shot and killed by police since 2015
50%
26%
19%
5%
People shot and killed by police since 2015
Unarmed people shot and killed by police since 2015
42%
36%
18%
4%
2. Black men are more likely to be fatally shot while unarmed.
Compared to their numbers in the overall population, an unarmed black man is about four times more likely to be killed by police than an unarmed white man.
4.9 unarmed black men per 1 million
1.6 Hispanic men per 1 million
1.1 white men per 1 million
4.9 unarmed black men
per 1 million
1.6 Hispanic men per 1 million
1.1 white men per 1 million
3. Most people killed by police are young men.
The vast majority of people shot and killed by police are men. More than half of them are between the ages of 20 and 40.
The majority of victims are under 40 years old.
Number of victims
700
500
300
100
0
0-5
5-10
10-15
15-20
20-25
25-30
30-35
35-40
40-45
45-50
50-55
55-60
60-65
65-70
70-75
75-80
80-85
85-100
Age
Number of shootings by gender
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
Male
4,184
Female
204
Number of victims
700
500
300
100
0
0-5
5-10
10-15
15-20
20-25
25-30
30-35
35-40
40-45
45-50
50-55
55-60
60-65
65-70
70-75
75-80
80-85
85-100
Age
Number of shootings by gender
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
4,184
Male
Female
204
4. Since 2015, police have shot and killed an average of 3 people per day.
The number of fatal shootings has totaled nearly 1,000 every year, but the number fluctuates. Since 2015, there have been three months when police have killed 100 or more people. March 2018 was the deadliest.
110 people killed
in March 2018
100
80
60
40
20
0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
110 people killed
in March 2018
100 people killed
in February 2017
100
80
60
104 people killed
in July 2015
40
20
0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
5. More than 2,500 police departments have shot and killed at least one person since 2015.
Nationwide, there are about 18,000 law enforcement agencies. Since 2015, most of those agencies have not shot and killed anyone. Of the 2,500 that did, 1,700 agencies shot and killed only one person. The 20 departments with the most fatal shootings are primarily located in urban areas.
| Department | Total |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles Police Department, CA | 74 |
| Phoenix Police Department, AZ | 66 |
| Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, CA | 50 |
| Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, NV | 38 |
| Chicago Police Department, IL | 32 |
| New York Police Department, NY | 32 |
| Riverside County Sheriff's Department, CA | 30 |
| Houston Police Department, TX | 30 |
| San Antonio Police Department, TX | 27 |
| Columbus Police Department, OH | 26 |
| Austin Police Department, TX | 25 |
| California Highway Patrol, CA | 25 |
| Kentucky State Police, KY | 25 |
| Miami-Dade Police Department, FL | 24 |
| Oklahoma City Police Department, OK | 23 |
| Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, FL | 22 |
| Pennsylvania State Police, PA | 21 |
| Mesa Police Department, AZ | 20 |
| Denver Police Department, CO | 20 |
| St. Louis Police Department, MO | 19 |
Other noteworthy departments: The Baltimore Police Department has had 12 fatal shootings by police. D.C. police have had nine. Police in Ferguson, Mo., where Michael Brown was killed in 2014, have not had a fatal police shooting since.
6. The vast majority of people shot and killed by police are armed.
Nearly six in 10 people shot and killed by police had a gun. Many others were armed with a knife or other weapon. However, determining the threat posed by a weapon can be tricky. For example, 155 people killed by police since 2015 were found after the shooting to be wielding toy guns.
What leads to shootings?
In 58% of the cases, the victim carried a gun.
0
500
1,500
2,500
2,442
Gun
Knife
Unarmed
285
Undetermined
Toy weapon
Vehicle
Other
In 58% of the cases, the victim carried a gun.
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2,442
Gun
Knife
285
Unarmed
Undetermined
Toy weapon
Vehicle
Other
About the data
In 2015, The Post began tracking more than a dozen details about each fatal shooting by police — including the race of the deceased, the circumstances, whether the person was armed and if the person was experiencing a mental-health crisis — by culling local news reports, law enforcement websites and social media, and by monitoring independent databases such as Killed by Police and Fatal Encounters. The Post conducted additional reporting in many cases. Read about our methodology. Download the data.
