ST. LOUIS – Missouri police agencies remain slow to sign up for an FBI program that tracks police shootings, nearly two years after its launch.
The National Use-of-Force Data Collection gathers information on fatal and nonfatal shootings and also records instances when officers fire their weapons but no one is struck. Experts say collecting this data is essential to understanding how officers make life-and-death decisions.
At least seven people have died in St. Louis-area police shootings in 2020, including Mark Brewer, a 28-year-old burglary suspect who was shot and killed on Dec. 6 by a St. Louis officer.