Police shooting and deadly force investigations

In Tennessee v. Garner (1985), the Supreme Court held that deadly force may not be used against a fleeing person unless the officer has probable cause to believe the person poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury. After a shooting, the official account is usually written by the agency whose officer fired. Families and their attorneys are entitled to an independent look at the evidence.

What an investigation looks for

• Where each person stood and moved, reconstructed from the scene, video, and physical evidence
• Whether the person was armed, what was in their hands, and what the officers could see
• The timing of commands, warnings, and shots, taken from audio, video, and dispatch records
• Witnesses the official investigation did not interview, and evidence it did not collect

How these cases are investigated

In police shooting and deadly force cases, the work most often involves scene investigation, video and digital evidence recovery, independent case review, and witness location and interviews. What a particular case needs depends on what evidence already exists and what is at risk of being lost.

Nationwide, and civil rights only

Evidence in police shooting and deadly force cases is lost quickly. Video is overwritten, records are purged, and witnesses move on. Civil Rights PI accepts these investigations nationwide, and the earlier the work begins, the more there is to find.