Police Shootings Are Second Most Common Homicide in Utah, Report Says
Deadly police force has claimed more lives in Utah than nearly any other type of homicide in the last five years, according to an analysis by the Salt Lake Tribune.
Law enforcement officers killed 45 people in Utah between 2010 and October 2014, accounting for 15 percent of all homicides during that period. That made police use of force the second most common type of homicide in the state after intimate partner violence, according to the paper’s review of more than 300 homicides.
"The numbers reflect that there could be an issue and it’s going to take a deeper understanding of these shootings," said Chris Gebhardt, a former police officer in both Washington, D.C. and Utah.
Utah prosecutors have deemed all but one of the killings justified, the Tribune found. The single shooting deemed unjustified was the 2012 death of a young woman by a West Valley City officer. Last month, a judge dismissed criminal charges against the officer after finding no evidence that the “conduct was not legally justifiable.”
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/police-shootings-are-second-most-common-homicide-utah-report-says-n255261
