Data
Aggregate figures only. No case-level records, names, dates, or locations are published.
- Snapshot
- S-20261002
- Records in snapshot
- 1970
- Period covered
- 2015-2024
- Smallest cell shown
- 5. Smaller counts are suppressed.
Counts are researcher-coded from public sources. Cells with fewer than 5 cases are suppressed, and some larger cells are hidden so they cannot be recovered from totals.
Fatal encounters by year
Number of fatal encounters in the dataset, by year of incident.
n = 1970. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Year | Encounters |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 172 |
| 2016 | 193 |
| 2017 | 171 |
| 2018 | 205 |
| 2019 | 186 |
| 2020 | 190 |
| 2021 | 179 |
| 2022 | 213 |
| 2023 | 200 |
| 2024 | 261 |
Engagement distance
Number of encounters by the closest straight-line separation reached, before the first police shot, between the subject and the person threatened (a bystander, hostage, or officer).
n = 1401; 569 excluded because not coded. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Distance band | Encounters |
|---|---|
| Contact range (coded 1 ft) | 572 |
| 2-5 ft | 223 |
| 6-10 ft | 362 |
| 11-15 ft | 155 |
| 16-21 ft | 53 |
| 22+ ft | 36 |
Contact-range events are coded as 1 ft by convention; that value is a category, not a measured separation. Excludes encounters where distance could not be determined.
Encounter duration
Number of encounters by the time from first police contact to the first police shot.
n = 1640; 330 excluded because not coded. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Time from first contact to first shot | Encounters |
|---|---|
| Up to 90 seconds | 1145 |
| 90 seconds to 90 minutes | 401 |
| 90 minutes or more | 94 |
Excludes encounters where the timeline could not be determined.
Engagement distance by domestic flag
Engagement distance in fatal edged-weapon encounters, split by domestic or family call flag. Distance bands are collapsed to three categories.
n = 1401; 569 excluded because not coded. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Distance band | Domestic (n = 609) | Non-domestic (n = 792) |
|---|---|---|
| Contact range (coded 1 ft) | 287 | 285 |
| 2–5 ft | 103 | 120 |
| 6 ft or more | 219 | 387 |
Cases with unknown distance excluded. Distance bands collapsed from full distribution. Contact range = subject made physical contact before first shot.
Encounter duration by domestic flag
Encounter duration in fatal edged-weapon encounters, split by domestic or family call flag.
n = 1640; 330 excluded because not coded. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Duration band | Domestic (n = 702) | Non-domestic (n = 938) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 90 seconds | 466 | 679 |
| 90 seconds to 90 minutes | 186 | 215 |
| 90 minutes or more | 50 | 44 |
Cases with unknown duration excluded.
Pre-discharge third-party contact by domestic flag
Whether the subject made physical contact with a person other than a responding officer before the first shot, split by domestic flag.
n = 1970. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Third-party contact | Domestic (n = 850) | Non-domestic (n = 1,120) |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-discharge contact with third party | 290 | 157 |
| No pre-discharge contact | 560 | 963 |
Third-party contact = physical contact between subject and a person other than a responding officer before the first shot.
Co-occurrence of crisis indicators
All combinations of mental illness, substance impairment, and suicidal intent flags across 1,970 fatal edged-weapon encounters.
n = 1970. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Crisis indicator combination | Encounters |
|---|---|
| None | 542 |
| Illness only | 416 |
| Impairment only | 121 |
| Suicidal only | 63 |
| Illness + Impairment | 215 |
| Illness + Suicidal | 348 |
| Impairment + Suicidal | 40 |
| All three | 225 |
Groups are mutually exclusive and exhaustive. Illness = D_Illness; Impairment = D_Impaired; Suicidal = D_Suicidal.
CIT deployment by suicidal flag
Whether a Crisis Intervention Team officer was documented as responding, split by whether the decedent was coded as suicidal.
n = 1970. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| CIT deployment | Suicidal encounters (n = 676) | Non-suicidal encounters (n = 1,294) |
|---|---|---|
| CIT deployed | 19 | 25 |
| No CIT documented | 657 | 1269 |
CIT deployment is based on documented presence of a CIT-certified officer in source materials and is likely an undercount.
Encounter duration by suicidal flag
Time from first police contact to first shot, split by whether the decedent was coded as suicidal.
n = 1640; 330 excluded because not coded. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Duration | Suicidal encounters (n = 614) | Non-suicidal encounters (n = 1,026) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 90 seconds | 397 | 748 |
| 90 seconds or more | 217 | 278 |
Cases with unknown duration excluded.
Age distribution of decedents
Age of decedents in fatal edged-weapon encounters, grouped into seven bands.
n = 1952; 18 excluded because not coded. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Age band | Decedents |
|---|---|
| Under 18 | 27 |
| 18–24 | 218 |
| 25–34 | 629 |
| 35–44 | 548 |
| 45–54 | 345 |
| 55–64 | 150 |
| 65 and older | 35 |
18 cases with unknown age excluded.
Race distribution of decedents
Race of decedents in fatal edged-weapon encounters, 2015–2024, for cases with known race.
n = 1943; 27 excluded because not coded. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Race | Decedents |
|---|---|
| White | 943 |
| Hispanic | 477 |
| Black | 387 |
| Asian | 54 |
| Native American | 46 |
| Mixed/Multiracial | 18 |
| Pacific Islander | 18 |
27 cases with unknown or undetermined race excluded. Hispanic origin is treated as a racial category following the source databases' convention.
Gender distribution of decedents
Gender of decedents in fatal edged-weapon encounters, 2015–2024.
n = 1968; 2 excluded because not coded. Stage: Encounter & Intervention
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Gender | Decedents |
|---|---|
| Male | 1861 |
| Female | 107 |
2 cases with non-binary or gender-diverse coding suppressed (cell below minimum threshold).
Body-worn camera footage obtained, by year
Number of encounters by year, split by whether body-worn camera footage was obtained and reviewed by the research team. This does not show whether officers wore cameras.
n = 1970. Stage: Post-Incident & Analysis
The chart needs JavaScript. The data table below has the same figures.
Data table
| Year | Footage obtained and reviewed | Not obtained or not documented |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 15 | 157 |
| 2016 | 23 | 170 |
| 2017 | 34 | 137 |
| 2018 | 51 | 154 |
| 2019 | 39 | 147 |
| 2020 | 63 | 127 |
| 2021 | 75 | 104 |
| 2022 | 92 | 121 |
| 2023 | 119 | 81 |
| 2024 | 129 | 132 |
The second group combines encounters with no camera and encounters where footage existed but was not released.
Coded variables are researcher-assigned under the codebook and reported only in aggregate. See Methods for sources, suppression rules, and limitations. Foundational case data come from the Washington Post Fatal Force database and Mapping Police Violence.