State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO/WCCO) – New figures from the state of Minnesota detail the number of people who died during police calls over a five-year period and how they died.
“When a death occurs during an encounter with law enforcement, we know there are effects for the person who lost their life, others involved, families, and communities,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. “This report is a start for exploring the challenges and opportunities we face to find upstream solutions for reducing the health and safety consequences of these events and to potentially prevent loss of life among civilians and officers.”
The report from the Department of Health shows that 177 people died in Minnesota during police calls for service. Between 2016 and 2021 data showed that 45 percent were due to use of force, 31 percent were suicides, 22 percent were accidents of some kind and the remaining had a cause that could not be determined.
A deeper look shows that Black people died during police calls at a higher rate than white people, Hispanics or Asian people, and were second only to indigenous people.
“This collection of data serves as another part of the community conversation that we should all be engaged in so that we can explore how to prevent, reduce and address fatal interactions. It’s key to understand that these cases are not a single point in time that begins or ends when law enforcement gets involved,” said Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington. “We know from our own Working Group to examine Police-Involved Deadly Force Encounters that law enforcement professionals are called to address a wide range of societal issues, including persons in drug-induced crisis, people living with mental illness, or other disabilities. Anything that helps us to examine what can be done to resolve these incidents safely even before law enforcement becomes involved, is a step in the right direction.”
The report focused only on deaths during calls, not deaths at jails, and calls that didn’t involve a responding law enforcement agent.
Of these deaths, 120 resulted from one or more gunshot wounds, and 44 resulted from a motor vehicle collision. The remaining 13 deaths involved two drownings, two restraints, two falls, one stabbing, and six deaths that could best be described as a medical emergency. There was an average of about 30 deaths a year, including 33 during 2016, 25 in 2017, 26 in 2018, 28 in 2019, 29 in 2020, and 36 in 2021.
The analysis found significant racial disparities. Though most encounters, 109, involved white Minnesotans, Blacks were about 4.5 times as likely as white civilians to be involved in a fatal encounter and American Indians were 5.7 times as likely.
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