Dallas third in U.S. for deadly police shootings
The City of Dallas finds itself near the top of a new list: cities with the most deadly police shootings.
Dallas is ahead of places like Chicago, Detroit and Houston on this new list.
Between 2010 and 2014, 34 people were shot and killed by Dallas police.
A study by a Chicago-based advocacy group shows that per capita during that time span, Dallas ranks third behind Phoenix and Philadelphia in deadly force incidents.
I think it’s what we've been saying all along.
Mothers Against Police Brutality founder Collette Flanagan's son, 25-year-old Clinton Allen, was shot and killed by Officer Clark Staller in 2013.
The officer was not indicted.
In that incident, police responded to a 911 disturbance call.
Authorities say Allen had PCP in his system and struggled with the officer, who feared for his life and shot him.
“Seventy-eight percent of the time, it is a black victim that has been shot, unarmed or mentally ill person, by a white policeman,” said Collette Flanagan.
Chicago's Better Government Association did the study because there is no national database cataloging police killings.
“A lot of people are paying attention to this issue, and I think that this information needs to be available,” said Andrew Schrader. “People need to know how many shootings there are, how many of those shootings have resulted in fatalities they need to know how their department is doing, how their department compares to other similar-sized cities throughout the country.”
“The rankings don’t mean much,” said Police Chief David Brown with the Dallas Police Department. “First, if you don’t have data, nor does it mean much if you don’t understand the circumstances as it relates to the data, whether officers are being assaulted more and having to use force or whether gun laws need to be more restrictive.”
That same study found Dallas the most transparent in the nation.
“I think we're more open is even more important particular during this time of distrust in some communities,” said Brown.
That distrust is now centered on cities like Ferguson, Baltimore and most recently, Arlington, Texas.
Despite Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson's swift firing of rookie officer Brad Miller in the shooting death of 19-year-old unarmed college student Christian Taylor, protests and demonstrations have been calling for Miller to face criminal charges.
Flanagan says deadly police shootings like the Arlington case should be investigated by outside independent teams for the sake of stronger public trust.
“We need real change, not soft-shoe change,” said Flanagan. “That’s where we start.”
The Better Government Association obtained information from the cities in its study through open records requests.
It took more than five months to receive and compile the information.