Police Shooting Data

My efforts to counteract the misinformation and disinformation about law enforcement include researching data from verifiable and credible sources - often primary sources. Given my experience as a police officer, my B.S. in Accounting and my M.S. in Criminal Justice I feel I know where to look and how to assess such information. 

Furthermore, I have also established relationships with criminologists, statisticians, lawyers, police, bail bondsmen, probation officers, and others. I would like to share this with you.

Here is a link to the Arrest Related Deaths 2003-2009 report compiled and published, in November 2011, by the highly esteemed Dept. of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). It is one of the many reports they publish. 

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ard0309st.pdf

Data, from this monograph, that I have cited during my television and radio appearances, speeches, and articles I have written can be found: 

• Page 1 "From 2003 through 2009, a total of 4,813 deaths were reported to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD) program. Of these, about 6 in 10 deaths (2,931) were classified as homicide by law enforcement personnel ... During the same period, the FBI estimated nearly 98 million arrests in the United States. "
• Tables 7, 13, 14 regarding incidents at the time of arrest and demographics 

BJS is probably my main source for data - but not the sole source. It is, in my opinion, among the best available. Other great sources are the Criminology school at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as, journals like Criminology, historical research such as American Homicide and others.

But BJS data is, unquestionably, far superior to that compiled by media outlets, advocacy groups, and blogs. Unlike the information compiled by the aforementioned this data is required to go through a vetting process similar to peer reviews done in professional and academic circles. The BJS personnel who collect and analyze this information have PhD's. I believe they all have at least five semesters of statistics (btw I have four semesters).