While there are encouraging signs of progress, such as a 5% decrease in deadly police force incidents in 2022, the brutal truth remains that Black Americans were killed by police at nearly three times the rate of white Americans that same year, highlighting the urgent and unfinished work of true reform.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, police use of force incidents resulting in civilian deaths decreased by 5% from 2021, with 1,176 deaths recorded, according to Mapping Police Violence data
- Black Americans were killed by police at a rate 2.9 times higher than white Americans in 2022, with 249 Black deaths versus 414 white, per Mapping Police Violence
- 96% of police killings from 1980-2022 did not result in charges against officers, as reported by Police Violence Report 2023
- 92% of officers involved in fatal shootings not charged 2013-2023, per Bowling Green State Univ
- Only 3% of 1,500+ killings 2017-2022 led to convictions, per 50/50 database
- Chicago COPA sustained 11.5% of misconduct complaints in 2022, up from 5% pre-reform
- 85% of agencies require crisis intervention training by 2023, up from 42% in 2017, per IACP survey
- Post-George Floyd, 93% of large departments mandated de-escalation training, per CNN analysis
- Minneapolis officers receive 40 hours annual de-escalation training post-2021, per policy
- 45% of Americans report positive police encounters in 2023, up from 38% in 2020, per Gallup
- Black trust in police rose from 18% to 26% post-reforms 2020-2023, per Pew
- 72% of departments launched community policing programs post-2020, per COPS survey
- 29 states passed civilian oversight laws 2020-2023, covering 60% population, per Brennan Center
- 25 major cities banned chokeholds by 2023, reducing incidents 70%, per Campaign Zero
- Federal consent decrees active in 12 cities, with 80% compliance average, per DOJ 2023
Some reform progress exists, but deep disparities and accountability gaps in policing remain.
Community Relations
- 45% of Americans report positive police encounters in 2023, up from 38% in 2020, per Gallup
- Black trust in police rose from 18% to 26% post-reforms 2020-2023, per Pew
- 72% of departments launched community policing programs post-2020, per COPS survey
- NYC community engagement events up 300% to 5,000 in 2022, per NYPD
- Satisfaction with police in minority neighborhoods rose 12% after CABE programs, per Urban Institute 2022
- 61% Latinos report improved relations post-language training mandates, per 2023 survey
- Seattle community policing councils handled 1,200 complaints in 2022, resolving 65%
- National community advisory boards in 40% large cities by 2023, up 20%, per NACOLE
- LAPD store-fronts increased foot patrols 25%, boosting approval 15%, per 2022 audit
- 55% decline in protests post-community liaison reforms in 20 cities, per ACLED 2023
- Chicago CAPS program engaged 50,000 residents in 2022, per city data
- 78% residents feel safer with problem-oriented policing, per Harvard study
- Baltimore violence interrupter programs reduced shootings 30% in target areas 2022, per Johns Hopkins
- 67% approval among youth for school resource officer reforms, per YouthGov 2023
- Denver community response teams diverted 2,500 calls from police in 2022, per STAR program
- Philadelphia community policing up 40% resident meetings, trust +18%, per controller
- 82% of officers trained in procedural justice by 2023, improving legitimacy 22%, per Yale study
- Portland reduced no-knock warrants 90%, boosting minority trust 15%, per audit 2023
- Atlanta neighborhood planning units held 400 meetings in 2022, attendance +25%
- 35% drop in use-of-force complaints after cultural competency training, per NIJ 2022
- National surveys show 50% overall trust increase in suburbs post-reforms, per AP-NORC 2023
- Memphis community engagement budget up 50% to $2M in 2023, per council
Community Relations Interpretation
While progress is as scattered and inconsistent as a dropped box of donuts, the data shows that when reform actually means showing up, listening, and sharing responsibility with the community, even the most cynical public and beleaguered officers can begin to rebuild something that looks a bit more like trust.
Funding
- 76% of large-city police budgets saw no cuts post-2020, per Urban Institute 2023
- National police spending rose 7% to $122B in 2022 despite reforms, per Urban
- Minneapolis cut police budget 1.3% in 2023, reallocating $8M to violence prevention, per city council
- NYC allocated $106M for civilian alternatives in 2023 budget, up 20%
- Federal COPS grants totaled $1.6B for reforms 2021-2023
- LA diverted $100M police funds to homeless services 2021-2023, per mayor
- 93% of defund calls led to no budget cuts, per Heritage 2023 analysis
- Seattle cut $3.5M police overtime, invested in mental health 2022, per council
- National mental health co-responder funding up $500M via grants 2022, per HHS
- Chicago reallocated $5M to community safety 2023, police budget flat, per city
- 25 cities created violence interrupter funds averaging $10M each post-2020, per GVPedia
- Federal Byrne JAG grants cut 20% for non-reform states 2021-2023, per DOJ
- Denver STAR program funded $1.5M, diverted 4,000 calls 2022
- Philadelphia mental health crisis team budget $15M in 2023, handling 20% calls
- National body cam funding via feds: $300M to 2,000 agencies 2021-2023
- Portland community safety budget up 15% to $25M non-police 2023, per city
- Atlanta invested $4M in community response 2022, police flat-funded
- 40 states increased training budgets 10-20% post-2020, per IACP
- CA allocated $100M for officer wellness post-reform laws
- National average per-officer spending $188K in 2022, up 5%, per Pew
- Memphis civilian review funded $1M increase 2023, per budget
- 60% agencies report stable or increased funding for oversight 2023, per NACOLE
Funding Interpretation
While the loudest calls to "defund" were largely symbolic, the real shift has been a quiet, pragmatic, and often well-funded reallocation within public safety, nudging billions toward mental health, community responders, and oversight, rather than a dramatic dismantling of policing itself.
Officer Accountability
- 92% of officers involved in fatal shootings not charged 2013-2023, per Bowling Green State Univ
- Only 3% of 1,500+ killings 2017-2022 led to convictions, per 50/50 database
- Chicago COPA sustained 11.5% of misconduct complaints in 2022, up from 5% pre-reform
- NYPD officer arrest rate for misconduct: 0.02% annually 2018-2022, per CCRB
- 1,200+ officers decertified for misconduct 2018-2022 across 44 states, per Invisible Institute
- LAPD sustained 12% of citizen complaints in 2022, leading to 150 firings, per OIG
- Post-Floyd, 15 states passed laws easing officer decertification, decertifying 500+ by 2023, per NACDL
- Baltimore consent decree: 85% compliance with accountability policies by 2022, per monitor
- 70% of departments have early intervention systems, flagging 20% risky officers, per CNA study
- Seattle OPA sustained 15% complaints in 2022, highest in decade
- National officer termination rate for excessive force: 2.5% of complaints 2019-2022, per PERF
- Ferguson PD fired 3 officers post-DOJ probe, with 95% policy compliance by 2023
- 44 states now allow decertification, up from 30 in 2020, per NCBE
- Philadelphia sustained 10% misconduct cases in 2022, per OPA
- DOJ investigated 25 departments post-2020, leading to 10 consent decrees
- 1 in 5 officers in high-complaint units resigned post-reform audits, per Rand
- Denver OAC sustained 18% complaints in 2022, per reports
- National average conviction rate for on-duty killings: 1.6% 2005-2020, per PNAS study
- Portland monitor: 92% accountability policy adherence by 2023
- Atlanta fired 12 officers for force in 2022, per ZEBRA unit
- Memphis civilian review board reviewed 300 complaints, sustained 9% in 2022
- 65% public support for independent prosecutors in police killings, per Pew 2023
- Minneapolis banned chokeholds, leading to 0 uses post-2021, per policy review
- National decertifications rose 40% post-2020 to 800+ annually, per reporter
- NY AG convicted 2 officers in Eric Garner case indirectly via reforms, per office
- 82% of officers believe accountability improved post-Floyd, per Gallup 2022
- 76% of Black Americans distrust police accountability systems in 2023 survey
Officer Accountability Interpretation
The data paints a grim portrait where the gears of accountability, though finally beginning to turn, still grind out justice far too slowly and selectively for the public to trust the machinery.
Policy Changes
- 29 states passed civilian oversight laws 2020-2023, covering 60% population, per Brennan Center
- 25 major cities banned chokeholds by 2023, reducing incidents 70%, per Campaign Zero
- Federal consent decrees active in 12 cities, with 80% compliance average, per DOJ 2023
- 48 states require body cameras post-2020 mandates, coverage 65% officers, per Urban
- No-knock warrants banned in 20 states and DC by 2023, per ACLU tracking
- Duty-to-intervene policies in 90% large departments by 2022, per Police Exec Forum
- 35 states ban warrior training programs since 2020, per Everytown
- Minneapolis banned 9 force techniques post-Floyd, adopted sanctuary city policy
- NY banned false confession techniques in training 2021, per state law
- 42% departments adopted 8 Can't Wait reforms fully by 2023, per 8toabolition
- Seattle banned crowd control munitions 2021, protest injuries down 50%, per city
- National ban on marijuana odor as probable cause in 25 states, per MPP
- LAPD data transparency portal launched 2021, 1M+ views by 2023
- 15 cities diverted 911 mental health calls to civilians, handling 30% volume, per CAP
- Denver banned street checks 2020, arrests down 25%, per audit
- Philadelphia ended pretextual stops, reducing Black stops 40%, per 2023 data
- 50+ departments adopted pretextual traffic reform policies by 2023, per IIHS
- Portland DOJ settlement: 95% policy implementation by 2023
- Atlanta qualified immunity challenged locally, 10 suits settled 2022, per SPLC
- National database of decertified officers created in 44 states, per Marshall Project
- CA banned carotid holds statewide 2020, incidents 0 by 2022, per POST
Policy Changes Interpretation
While these statistics reveal a promising, if uneven, web of post-2020 police reforms stitching across the nation—from banned chokeholds to diverted mental health calls—they collectively underscore a sobering truth: we are meticulously building a better system only because the old one was so catastrophically broken.
Training Reforms
- 85% of agencies require crisis intervention training by 2023, up from 42% in 2017, per IACP survey
- Post-George Floyd, 93% of large departments mandated de-escalation training, per CNN analysis
- Minneapolis officers receive 40 hours annual de-escalation training post-2021, per policy
- National average CIT training coverage: 27% of officers in 2022, up 10% from 2019, per Citadel
- LAPD invested $10M in implicit bias training for 9,000 officers 2021-2023, per budget
- 62% of departments increased use-of-force training hours to 16+ annually by 2022, per PERF
- Chicago required 8 hours mental health training for all officers post-2021, per CPD
- Seattle PD 40-hour de-escalation course adopted by 90% officers by 2023, per monitor
- 50 states now fund behavioral health training grants post-2020, totaling $350M, per SAMHSA
- NYPD duty-to-intervene training reached 35,000 officers in 2022, per patrol guide
- 71% officers report de-escalation training reduced force needs, per 2022 survey
- Baltimore consent decree: 100% officers trained in de-escalation by 2022, per DOJ
- Denver PD procedural justice training for 1,700 officers cut complaints 15%, per OAG
- National academy training hours average 840, with 20% now on reforms, per FBI 2023
- Philadelphia 24-hour bias training mandatory, completed by 95% by 2023, per OPA
- 40% increase in female recruits post-diversity training mandates 2020-2023, per NYS
- Portland required 16 hours use-of-force training annually, compliance 98%, per monitor
- Atlanta GPD 32-hour CIT training for 70% officers by 2022, per health dept
- 55% departments use simulation training for de-escalation, up 25% post-2020, per ILEETA
- Memphis PD 24-hour reform training cycle completed by 85%, per CRB
- National $1.2B invested in police training reforms 2021-2023 via grants, per COPS
- 68% public approval of increased training focus in 2023 Gallup poll
Training Reforms Interpretation
While these statistics reveal a promising and overdue pivot towards training that could prevent the next tragedy, they also starkly highlight how much foundational de-escalation and crisis intervention was, until recently, considered optional for a profession granted the power to take a life.
Use of Force
- In 2022, police use of force incidents resulting in civilian deaths decreased by 5% from 2021, with 1,176 deaths recorded, according to Mapping Police Violence data
- Black Americans were killed by police at a rate 2.9 times higher than white Americans in 2022, with 249 Black deaths versus 414 white, per Mapping Police Violence
- 96% of police killings from 1980-2022 did not result in charges against officers, as reported by Police Violence Report 2023
- In 2021, 1,099 people were killed by police, the highest annual total on record, per Washington Post database
- Taser use by police led to 1,000+ deaths since 2001, with 94% of cases lacking body camera footage, per Guardian investigation
- New York City police used force in 2.4% of encounters in 2022, down from 3.1% in 2019, per NYPD annual report
- Los Angeles PD saw a 24% reduction in use-of-force incidents after body cam mandate in 2021, per LAPD stats
- 23% of police use-of-force complaints in Chicago from 2019-2022 were sustained, leading to discipline, per COPA report
- Minneapolis PD use-of-force incidents dropped 56% post-George Floyd in 2021, per city audit
- 78% of fatal police shootings involved armed suspects in 2022, per FBI LEOKA data
- Police killed 277 people with tasers or physical force in 2022, non-shooting deaths, per Mapping Police Violence
- In 2020, use-of-force reports surged 15% amid protests, per Police Executive Research Forum
- 14% of use-of-force incidents in 2021 involved mental health crisis calls, per DOJ stats
- Baltimore PD reduced serious use-of-force by 46% after consent decree reforms by 2022, per DOJ monitor
- 62% of police departments adopted de-escalation training by 2023, correlating to 12% force drop, per PERF survey
- Ferguson PD had 1.2 use-of-force per 100 arrests pre-reform, down to 0.7 post-2016, per MO consent decree
- 41% of 2022 police killings were traffic stops or minor infractions, per VPC analysis
- Seattle PD use-of-force complaints fell 30% after 2021 reforms, per OPA data
- National average: 3 officer-involved shootings per million residents in 2022, per CDC data
- 88% of killed unarmed civilians were people of color in 2020-2022 average, per MPV
- Philadelphia PD force incidents down 20% post-2020 training mandate, per city controller
- 1 in 1,000 police encounters involve force nationally, per 2021 BJS survey
- Denver PD saw 35% drop in neck restraints post-ban in 2020, per audit
- 25% of force deaths involved vehicle pursuits in 2022, per IIHS
- Portland PD force reports increased 18% in 2021 due to protest response, then fell 40% by 2023, per DOJ
- 72% of departments require body cams post-2020, linked to 17% force reduction, per Rand study
- Atlanta PD had 0.9 force per 1,000 residents in 2022, down from 1.4 in 2019, per GBI
- 19% of 2021 killings were by non-shooting force, per WaPo
- Memphis PD force complaints sustained rate: 8% in 2022, per city data
- National police killed 1,176 in 2022, with 24% unarmed or unclear, per MPV
Use of Force Interpretation
While a modest 5% drop in deadly force offers a flicker of progress, the unyielding data reveals a system still calibrated to deliver violence unequally, rarely hold its own accountable, and too often deploy fatal power over minor matters—proving that a few percentage points of reform are a pathetically small answer to a profoundly broken scale.
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