There were a particularly high number of law enforcement shootings in the Bay Area in 2017 compared to recent years, according to data I’ve collected through media and police report as well as a series of California Public Record Act requests. In all there were 67 shootings by Bay Area police in 2017, up dramatically from the five-year low of 41 in 2016. Since 2013, there were more shootings by law enforcement officers only in 2015.
| Year | Fatal | Total | Percent Fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 30 | 62 | 48.4% |
| 2014 | 23 | 51 | 45.1% |
| 2015 | 34 | 72 | 47.2% |
| 2016 | 12 | 41 | 29.3% |
| 2017 | 28 | 67 | 41.8% |
There has been a high number of shootings this year despite a sustained drop in shootings by Oakland police officers. Oakland police officers did not fire their weapons in 2014 or 2016 and were involved in only one shooting in 2017. (More on this from Oakland Magazine.) Shootings by San Francisco police were down in 2016 as well — only three — but there were seven incidents in 2017, 11 in 2015, 10 in 2014 and nine in 2013.
Here’s where all the law enforcement shootings in the Bay Area happened since 2013:
The data used to make the graphics above is available for download here.
