LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The death of George Floyd in May 2020 sparked a massive nationwide response. Floyd's last words "I can't breathe" became something of a battle cry, but his case was not an isolated incident.
13 Investigates has new information that provides context and explains why some say the question of accountability in these cases needs to be critically looked at.
George Floyd is among hundreds of cases where people have died at the hands of police using what's referred to as less-than-lethal force. Those deaths are often less scrutinized by law enforcement and review boards, according to an extensive Associate Press report that's been three years in the making.
"After the death of George Floyd, the Associated Press wanted to know how many other deaths like that were out there." said former Associated Press reporter Taylor Stevens, who now works at KSTU in Salt Lake City - a station that is also owned by our parent company, Scripps.
"I was part of that team working on identifying as many cases as we could of people who died after force that was so-called 'less lethal,'" Stevens explained.
Over a ten-year period from 2012 through 2021, the AP team uncovered 1,036 cases across the country where a subject died when methods such as tasers, choke holds, bean bag shots, and restraints were used.
Stevens's work focused on Nevada.
"So in Nevada, we were able to identify 12 deaths across a ten-year period that had occurred after officers used less lethal means of force," Stevens said.
Eight of those 12 are Metro cases. One is from the Nye County Sheriff's Office, and the other three were in northern Nevada.
Stevens said most Nevada law enforcement agencies have a clear process for investigating when an officer shoots and kills a subject.
"But in these less lethal deaths, we found those deaths weren't necessarily going through the same process for accountability," Stevens said. "So, they often weren't going through the public fact-finding accountability process."
The AP reports detail several reasons why non-shooting cases should be investigated with the same rigor as when officers fire their weapons.
- First, it's critical to hold officers accountable if it's determined excessive force was used no matter what the method.
- Second, it's an opportunity to improve existing techniques, develop new ones, and use lessons learned in officer training.
- And third, because most of the subjects in these less lethal force deaths were suffering from drug addiction and mental health issues, a thorough investigation of the circumstances and officers' actions helps the family of the deceased understand what happened.
However, Stevens's team discovered many law enforcement agencies do not publicly report cases of non-shooting deaths or readily have that data available.
"And so across the United States, we put in records requests to coroner's offices and medical examiner's offices, to District Attorney's Offices, to police departments trying to unearth as many of these types of cases as we can," Stevens said.
They also searched news reports and uncovered additional cases in social media searches.
"However, we do know that due to suppression and lack of information and public reporting about some of these cases, that it likely is an undercount," Stevens explained.
Stevens said when cases do go through a more formal process, changes have been made.
Like in the case of Byron Lee Williamsthat 13 Investigates first reported in 2020. Metro police attempted to stop Williams in September 2019 for not having lights on his bicycle. He ditched his bike and ran away from officers, but soon gave up and was restrained.
Just over 250 days before George Floyd's death, Williams uttered the same last words saying, "I can't breathe" 17 times before appearing to go unconscious.
The medical examiner ruled Williams died by methamphetamine intoxication, but the case did go through Clark County's police fatality fact-finding review.
The District Attorney determined no need for criminal prosecution of the officers involved, but Metro's own critical incident review led to key changes in policy, tactics, and training, including:
- not restraining a subject in custody in a way that compromises their ability to breathe
- only turning off body worn cameras if officers have cleared the scene
- calling for medical help if a suspect in a foot pursuit is in distress
- creating a course to "reinforce the expectation of ethics, values and professionalism in law enforcement both on and off-duty, emphasizing that officers value every human life before, during and after use of force"
Stevens notes there is not an assumption officers are using excessive force in the cases the AP examined.
"Who knows? That's the question, right? If there were a public accountability process, then perhaps it would be found that these cases were...officers were justified in their use of force."
But the families who spoke to the AP team said they want more accountability and a more public process, hoping, "...what happened to their family members wouldn't have to happen again to someone else," Stevens said.
Metro declined our request for an on-camera interview. They denied the AP's public records request on the number of non-firearm deaths from police encounters, and declined to discuss such deaths, agreeing to speak to the AP only about their successful police reforms involving guns.
The Clark County D.A. told the Associated Press that its review protocol applies to "any use of force incident in Clark County by a law enforcement officer" that results in a death.
