The FBI currently collects data on the use of force by state and local law enforcement officers but will not release complete data until 80% of agencies begin reporting. In 2013, Congress passed the Death in Custody Reporting Act requiring federal law enforcement agencies to report deaths that happen during arrest or while in custody.
Sixty-five people died while being arrested by federal law enforcement in 2020, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). More than a third of those deaths were homicides committed by officers.
BJS began publishing data on these deaths in 2016. However, the data is currently only available for federal police forces, such as the US Marshals, Bureau of Prisons, or Customs and Border Protection.
How many people died while under arrest by federal law enforcement in 2020?
More than half of the 65 deaths in 2020 occurred during arrests by the US Marshals Service, the enforcement arm of the federal court system. The agency with the second highest number of deaths was Customs and Border Protection, with 17 deaths. About 60% of the deaths occurred while an officer was serving a warrant.
Starting in 2020, BJS began reporting how many homicides were committed by officers. In 2020, all arrest-related homicides except one occurred at the hands of law enforcement officers. According to BJS data, in 59% of arrest-related deaths the deceased attempted to injure officers, and in 41% of deaths the deceased fired a gun.
In 2019, the FBI launched the National Use-of-Force Data Collection initiative to gather data on all arrest-related deaths committed by law enforcement officers. State and local law enforcement agencies fill out a collection survey that asks questions about fatalities or serious bodily harm caused by law enforcement officers. The survey also asks about any time an officer discharges their weapon.
Participation in the data collection is voluntary, and so far 43% of law enforcement agencies report use-of-force data. The FBI released limited initial data on the type of force used but will not release complete agency-level data until 80% of law enforcement agencies start reporting. This is to ensure the reported statistics are representative of the entire country.
Participation ranges widely from state to state. Some state legislatures passed laws requiring agencies to collect use-of-force data while other states leave the decision to report up to individual police agencies. Currently, all law enforcement agencies in 11 states and Washington, DC report use-of-force data to the FBI.
Kentucky has the lowest reporting rate of any state at just over 1% of agencies reporting. Some of the largest police departments in the US do not currently participate, including the Chicago Police Department, Houston Police Department, and the Miami-Dade County Police Department.
To discover how many law enforcement officers died in 2020, check out this article on police officer deaths in the line of duty.
