Before the state or municipalities make changes to law enforcement, Representative Justin Humphrey wants the public to see what the statistics say. He gathered information from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) on fatal officer-involved shootings (FOIS), arrest-related deaths (ARD) and law enforcement officers killed and assaulted (LEOKA) and is releasing it.
“I think it’s time Oklahomans have an honest conversation about policing, but one based on facts and data,” Humphrey said. “Only when the public has accurate information about law enforcement and the deaths that occurred while a person was being taken into custody or was in custody, and also the number of law enforcement officers that are killed and assaulted can we decide if changes are needed.”
The latest year for complete statistics is 2018. That year 30 people in Oklahoma were killed in a shooting by a law enforcement officer. Eighteen were white, five black, three Native American, three Hispanic and one listed as other. More than half of the deadly encounters were initiated by a citizen request for an officer to check for criminal or suspicious activities. Only nine of the deadly shootings occurred in urban counties.
There were no officers killed because of a criminal act in 2018, however, two died as the result of an accident or negligent act. The number of assaults on officers has increased from 918 in 2016 to 995 in 2018.
You can view more information here.
