In the wake of two controversial officer-involved shooting deaths in the summer of 2010, the Review-Journal set out to analyze two decades of shootings by officers from the Las Vegas Valley’s five major law enforcement agencies
Deadly Force
Police shootings make headlines. Far more common incidents when an officer would be justified in using deadly force, but elects not to, seldom get much attention.
A Review-Journal examination of all police shootings in Clark County since 1990 found that cops who use their guns sometimes show a pattern of questionable behavior beforehand or land in serious trouble after.
The homicide investigation and coroner’s inquest that followed her son’s 1999 shooting death left Connie Perrin angry and dissatisfied, so she sought emotional and financial redress in federal court.
A five-part special report begins Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal and online at lvrj.com. The culmination of a yearlong investigation covering more than two decades of officer-involved shootings in Clark County, the series will analyze the systemic issues that help determine when, where, how and why police shootings happen — and what can be done to limit them. The Review-Journal investigation includes staff-produced online documentaries, a searchable database of all police shootings since 1990, an archive of original documents, videotaped re-enactments by police and other interactive features.
