Law enforcement-related deaths in Tennessee detailed in TBI study - FOX13 Memphis

By FOX13Memphis.com News Staff

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A more comprehensive picture of deaths caused by Tennessee law enforcement’s deadly use of force in 2021 was painted by a study from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on Thursday.

The TBI study detailed 31 deadly use-of-force incidents in Tennessee in 2021.

The majority of those 31 people were killed after law enforcement responded to calls of unlawful or suspicious activity, the TBI said. Out of the 31 deadly use-of-force deaths, 13 people died during those calls, the TBI study revealed.

Five people died at the hands of law enforcement after calls for medical, mental health or welfare assistance, according to the TBI.

Nearly half of the people killed by deadly use-of-force used a firearm against an officer or someone else, the TBI said. The study reveals that 14 people killed during these incidents used a firearm against someone and another eight people displayed a firearm to an officer or someone else. Out of the 31 people, 25 were armed when law enforcement used deadly force, according to the TBI. Three were not armed and another three cases are still being investigated, the TBI said.

The TBI said seven people across Tennessee in 2021 were killed by law enforcement after failing to comply with verbal commands and five people died after attempting to escape or flee from custody.

Of those 31 people killed, the TBI said 67.7 percent were white and 32.3 percent were Black. An overwhelming amount of the people killed during these incidents were male, with 26 men dying by deadly use of force as opposed to only five women, according to the TBI study.

Most of those people were between 25-34 years old with 11 total people in that age range dying by deadly use of force across Tennessee in 2021. Nine people between the age of 45-54 were killed by law enforcement and one person under the age of 18 was killed in an incident with law enforcement, the TBI said.

Nearly half of those deadly-use-of-force incidents happened in June, August and October as those three months made up 48.4 percent of the incidents, according to the TBI. The study shows October had the highest number of fatalities as seven people across Tennessee died by deadly use of force that month.

In fact, according to the TBI study, there was at least one person killed by law enforcement in Tennessee in every month except for February in 2021.

Eleven people were killed inside residences while 9 were either on a highway, road, alley, sidewalk or street at the time, the TBI said.

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source: https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/local/law-enforcement-related-deaths-tennessee-detailed-tbi-study/QTOOV4IZWZCH7AHPWOQTJGYC6Y/

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