SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- More than 350 people are killed in the U.S. each year by police officers. But a San Francisco Chronicle analysis found just six cases in the past 15 years - not including the New Year's Day BART shooting - in which murder charges had been filed against officers who killed people in the line of duty.
Reporter Demian Bulwa said the cases, involving a total of 13 officers, typically resulted in large civil payouts to victims' relatives. However, none of the officers were convicted of murder. Most were acquitted or cleared altogether.
Bulwa tells KCBS the people involved in the cases in which police officers have been charged echoed a common theme: Jurors are reluctant to second-guess officers whom they see as doing a dangerous job.
"In Louisville, for example, the case that led to a murder charge came after a number of other shootings so there was a lot of pressure," said Bulwa. "People were angry about a string of shootings and then this one happened and it kind of broke the barrier."
Other common factors in acquittals included the presence of prominent defense attorneys hired through police unions; intense scrutiny of the victims; and intensive media coverage and community response, even rioting, that pressured prosecutors to file charges in cases that were difficult to win.
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