Law Enforcement Caused Injuries and Deaths Compared to Civilian Related Deaths

Police and sheriffs' deputies killed 9 people, several during gun battles. California National Guardsmen killed a motorist who tried to run them down. There was one report of law enforcement officers firing at a car when it drove by. In this case the Sheriffs Department compensated the owner (Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1992). Table 9 reports Los Angeles County Medical Examiner findings on law enforcement related deaths. Even though this incident is the most violent civil disturbance in recent times, it is still interesting to compare the number of law enforcement related deaths with those of the Watts Riots. In the weeks following the riots, Coroner's Inquests were held regarding thirty-two of the deaths. the Coroner's jury ruled that twenty-six of the deaths were justifiable homicide, five were homicidal, and one was accidental. Of those ruled justifiable homicide, the jury found that death was caused in sixteen instances by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department and in seven instances by the National Guard (Commission, 1965, p. 23). It appears from this data that law enforcement's use of lethal force was less than it was during the Watts Riots (10 deaths out of 51 (20%) compared to 16 deaths out of thirty-two (50%)). It appears that the public's use of lethal violence was far greater. Los Angeles is experiencing an epidemic of gun related violence. Over the past five years, State Department of Justice records show that 466,453 handguns were sold legally in Los Angeles County, one for every 19 residents. Nearly 8,600 people were hit by bullets -- almost one an hour in 1991. About 1,554 were slain, excluding suicides and accidental shooting deaths. That is nearly four times the combined number of people who were stabbed, bludgeoned or strangled. One out of six households has been victimized by a gun-related crime in the past two years. The percentage of fatal shooting of victims 19 years old or younger has more than doubled in the past two decades (San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 1992). This epidemic of civil violence may have contributed to a significant number of the civilian related deaths. The issue of law enforcement use of lethal violence to control a civil disturbance is discussed more fully below. A second form of violence needs to be examined too. What conditions, personalities, life experiences, and other factors are associated with engaging in civilian lethal violence during a civil disturbance? How is the occurrence of this type of violence related, if at all, to the original triggering event(s), gangs, drugs, consumption of alcohol, poverty, dominant and minority cultures, child rearing practices, psychological factors, availability of guns for example? The National Academy of Sciences recently made a call for more in depth research on the cause of violence which might include the examination of such issues (Sacramento Bee, November 13, 1992).

Medical Care for the Injured

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