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Fatal Police Encounters Dataset
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About
This dataset provides a detailed record of every fatal shooting by a police officer in the United States. It was compiled to address the acknowledged incompleteness of official data from sources such as the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For instance, in 2015, The Washington Post documented more than double the fatal police shootings compared to FBI records. The FBI has since announced plans to revise its tracking methods for fatal police encounters. This dataset serves as a crucial resource for understanding and analysing these incidents.
Columns
- id: A unique identifier for each incident.
- name: The name of the person fatally shot.
- date: The date of the shooting incident.
- manner_of_death: Describes how the death occurred, typically "shot" or "shot and Tasered".
- armed: Indicates what the person was armed with, such as a "gun", "knife", or "other" categories.
- age: The age of the person at the time of the shooting.
- gender: The gender of the person, typically male (M) or female (F).
- race: The race of the person, categorised as White (W), Black (B), Asian (A), Native American (N), Hispanic (H), or Other (O).
- city: The city where the shooting took place.
- state: The state where the shooting took place.
- signs_of_mental_illness: A Boolean field indicating whether the person showed signs of mental illness.
- threat_level: Flags incidents as "attack" or "other", primarily used for an October 2015 story by Amy Brittain.
- flee: Describes whether the person was fleeing, such as "Not fleeing", "Car", or other methods.
- body_camera: A Boolean field indicating whether an officer was reported to be wearing a body camera during the incident.
Distribution
The dataset is provided as a CSV file, named
fatal-police-shootings-data.csv, and has a file size of 498.29 kB. It contains 14 columns and includes approximately 5416 records. Some columns may have a small number of missing values (e.g., 'armed', 'age', 'race', 'flee').Usage
This dataset is ideal for:
- Investigating trends and patterns in fatal police shootings across the United States.
- Researching the impact of policing on different demographic groups, particularly concerning racial equity.
- Analysing public safety issues related to law enforcement encounters.
- Informing journalistic investigations and public discourse on police accountability.
- Developing policy recommendations aimed at reducing fatal incidents and improving police-community relations.
Coverage
The dataset covers fatal police shootings across the United States. The time range spans from 2 January 2015 to 16 June 2020. It includes demographic information such as gender, age, and race of the individuals involved, allowing for detailed analyses of specific groups.
License
CC BY-SA 4.0
Who Can Use It
- Researchers and Academics: For studies on criminology, sociology, public policy, and racial justice.
- Journalists and Media Professionals: To report on fatal police encounters and their societal implications.
- Civil Rights Organisations and Advocates: To support advocacy efforts and highlight disparities.
- Government Agencies and Policy Analysts: For understanding incident characteristics and informing police reform initiatives.
- Data Scientists and Analysts: For developing visualisations and statistical models related to police incidents.
Dataset Name Suggestions
- US Fatal Police Shootings Data
- American Police Force Fatalities
- United States Law Enforcement Shootings
- Police-Involved Deaths US
- Fatal Police Encounters Dataset
Attributes
Original Data Source: Fatal Police Encounters Dataset
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