JUSTICE?

On-Duty Cops Rarely Charged in Killings

Only four arrests per year.

Police are rarely charged with homicide when it occurs in the line of duty. Philip Stinson of Bowling Green State University found only 31 non-federal police officers who were on duty were charged with murder or non-negligent homicide committed with a firearm from 2005 to 2011. That comes out to just about four a year. According to the FBI, police committed 2,706 justifiable homicides during that same period, or about 385 a year. "It is really hard to convict a police officer. They get a super presumption of innocence," says former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson. Meanwhile, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri pointed a rifle at protesters Tuesday night and told them "I'll fucking kill you."