Full Notification

March 2, 2016                                                                                                              NR16078aa

LAPD PUBLISHES COMPREHENSIVE REPORT AND

ANALYSIS ON USES OF FORCE IN 2015

Los Angeles- Los Angeles Police Department provides the public with detailed information on officer-involved shootings and uses of less-lethal and non-deadly force furthering its commitment to data transparency and analysis

Earlier today, the LAPD published a comprehensive review of its uses of force in 2015 with detailed analyses of officer-involved shootings and uses of non-deadly and less-lethal force options.   The Executive Summary and complete analysis is available on the Department’s website at www.LAPDonline.org or 2015 Use of Force Year-End Review.

In November 2015, Chief Beck initiated a detailed review of the Department’s uses of force for 2015 and a comparison to the prior five years.  The objective was to analyze the data available from the 48 officer-involved shootings and 1,825 uses of non-deadly and less lethal force to identify factors that could inform training, tactics, and other issues when officers are confronted with use of force situations.

“This report represents the LAPD’s steadfast commitment to providing detailed information on the Department’s uses of force,” said Chief Beck.  “ This unprecedented analysis and amount of information will help the LAPD continuously improve our efforts to preserve life and protect the community.”

Key points from the report include:

Very Few Uses of Force Per Contacts with the Public

·        In 2015, LAPD officers had over 1.5 million contacts with members of the public, including arrests and responses to 9-1-1 calls.  Only .13% of those contacts resulted in any type of use of force.  This represents a Use of Force rate of 1.3 per 1,000 public contacts.

·        The 48 Officer-Involved Shootings in 2015 represent only .03 per 1,000 contacts with members of the public or .003%

Officer Involved Shootings

• Increase in the number of officer-involved shootings -- In 2015, LAPD had 48 Officer Involved Shootings which represented a 60% increase compared to 2014 (30 incidents)  and a 10% increase from the four year average of 44 OIS Incident per year.

• Hits - In 38 incidents (79%), the suspect was struck by gunfire

• No-Hits -In 10 incidents (21%), the suspect was not hit by gunfire

• Injuries to Suspects

• In 21 incidents the suspect died (44% of all OIS’s; 55% of hits)
• In 16 incidents the suspect had non-fatal Injuries (33% of all OIS’s; 42% of hits)
• In 11 incidents, the suspect was uninjured (23% of all OIS’s)

• Injuries to Officers – Significant Increase

• Officers Injured in OIS’s were up 64% (from 5 to 14) in 2015 including one officer seriously wounded by suspect with assault rifle.

• Armed Suspects -- In 78% of cases, the suspect  was armed with a firearm, edged weapon or blunt weapon.
  • In 53% of incidents, suspect had a firearm or imitation firearm
  • In 21% of incidents, suspect had a knife or other edged weapon
  • In 4% of incidents, suspect had a blunt force weapon such as a baseball bat

• Attempted to Arm -- In 8% of incidents  the suspect  attempted to, or did, disarm an officer (in 3 of the 4 cases, the suspect also had a firearm, edged or blunt weapon)

• Simulated Weapon and Furtive Movements

• In one case (2%), the suspect simulated being armed with a handgun and trying to shoot the officers

• In six cases (13%), the suspect made furtive movements causing the officers to believe they were attempting to become armed.

• Reason for Contact in OIS Incidents:
  • In 52% a member of the public requested a police response
  • In 35% an officer initiated contact with the suspect
  • In 4% a suspect ambushed the officers
  • In 8% of incidents, the officer was off-duty and either witnessed a crime or was a victim of a crime

• Increase in Mental Illness and Substance Abuse -- The number of OIS incidents where the suspect was perceived to have mental illness and/or under the influence of drugs increased in 2015 and those under the influence decreased:

• Mental Illness – 300% increase in suspects perceived to have mental illness compared to 2014.

• Under the Influence – 43% decrease compared to 2014; 51% decrease of 16.25 individuals compared to 2011-2014 (4 year annual average).

• Suicide By Cop Officer Involved Shooting Incidents -- Increased 150% compared to 2011-2014 annual average of 4.8 individuals.

• Metropolitan Division – Despite an increase in number of officers and crime suppression deployments, Metro Officers were involved in only two OIS’s compared to 17 in 2014 – a reduction of 88%.

Non-Deadly and Less Lethal Force – Physical force, TASER, Bean Bag Shotgun and OC Spray

• Less Lethal and Non-Deadly UOF Down by 2% - In 2015, LAPD used less lethal and non-lethal force in 1,825 incidents representing a 2% decline from 2014 and a 2% increase compared to the four-year average of 1788 incidents.  Non-lethal force decreased while TASER and Beanbag Shotgun Use increased:

• TASER Use – 24% increase compared to 2014
• Beanbag Shotgun Use – 31% increase compared to 2014
• Non-Lethal Force is down compared to 2014 by 2%

Enhanced Training Efforts

The Department has also implemented numerous programs to address these emerging threats through enhanced training on mental illness, the use of less lethal and non-lethal force, and de-escalation techniques.  These new efforts are set forth in the report available at http://bit.ly/1OMGVXN.