Analyzing Police Shootings in the US

Abstract

Police killings is one of the most controversial topics of discussion in the United States. Every death that occurs in police shootings is put under the microscope. Almost always, these deaths are categorized as the result of police officers being biased against a certain community or they are acting out of desperation for their own protection, depending on which side of the argument is favored. As will be evident from this work, the answer, and the possible solutions, are not straightforward enough to side with one reason. This research attempts at breaking down the data related to police killings obtained through the Washington Post from the beginning of 2015 to the second quarter of 2020. The motive of this research is to have a better insight into the patterns of police killings. The data have been interpreted with respect to sex, age and race and also the number of police killings in every state. The paper also reveals the weapons that are the most favored used by the suspects involved in the police killings. A graph showing the fleeing status of the suspects and whether they were captured during their killings concludes our findings.