A patrolman in the Seattle suburb of Auburn fatally shot two people in 20, but reportedly faced no discipline until last year, when he was charged with second-degree murder after his third on-duty killing. In some cases, officers have killed multiple people before facing consequences. But experts know little about the ones who fire more than once. In 2019, the research-focused nonprofit National Police Foundation released a study of 1,006 police shootings at 47 departments over two years that found that 4 out of 5 officers who fired in those shootings had never discharged their guns before. use deadly force and there are no consequences,” Taylor added, “it emboldens you to have power without restraint - especially if you’re policing communities of color." Is Myers an outlier? “When you consistently see officers from around the U.S. Instead, Taylor said, the “culture of policing” rewards officers like Myers who may be quick to fire their weapons in what they see as dangerous scenarios. These experts should determine whether the officers’ behavior is “problematic” and whether they should keep their jobs, he said. Authorities need clearer policies to identify repeat shooters and potentially remove or decertify them, they say - before the officers kill or injure again.Īndre Taylor, an activist who founded the nonprofit Not This Time! after his brother was killed by a Seattle police officer in 2016, said he believes officers who pull the trigger in multiple shootings should be assessed by outside medical professionals. Police accountability advocates point to examples of officers, like Myers, who have faced no consequences for multiple shootings despite allegations of potential misconduct. But because police shootings are so rare, some say that any officer who has amassed a string of shootings should be investigated to assure the public that trigger-happy officers will not be tolerated.
Policing experts said that officers with multiple shootings may work in high-risk units like SWAT, where they could face violent, unpredictable situations. The department’s deputy chief said the probe is ongoing and declined to comment.) (Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams called the alleged badge-bending “very troubling” and called for an outside investigation into the practice. And the killing of her son - who she said was having a mental health crisis - left her struggling with an unresolved question: “How many people can a police officer kill before they’re held accountable?”Īs cities grapple with high-profile killings by police and protesters fill the streets to demand justice, this is a question some police reform advocates are beginning to ask - particularly in places like Vallejo, California, where at least 14 officers were accused of bending the tips of their badges to mark each of their fatal shootings. For Smith’s mother, Rose Johnson, Myers appeared far too ready to pull the trigger. Family Photoīut his conduct has been questioned by judges, lawyers, officials and relatives of the people who died at his hands. Ryan Smith, 31, was killed by police in 2019. He denied any racial bias in the shootings. In an interview with NBC News, Myers attributed his repeated use of deadly force to a combination of factors, including threats posed by armed suspects, a willingness to rush toward danger and a confidence honed through years of experience and tactical training. And according to the independent unit within the department that investigates allegations of wrongdoing, the Office of Police Accountability, only Smith’s killing was referred for review, and there was no finding of misconduct. The Seattle Police Department declined to say whether Myers acted appropriately in each encounter, though officials gave him an award in at least one case. Three people were killed in the shootings and one was seriously injured. Myers, who is white, also belongs to a rare but significant class of American law enforcement officers: He’s used deadly force multiple times in his career, firing his gun in four separate incidents in the last 11 years. Christopher Myers, an officer with the Seattle Police Department, fired his gun in four separate incidents in the last 11 years.
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