Only A Tiny Fraction Of Justifiable Homicides are Reported as Such To The FBI
Figures Cited By Gun Control Groups For Decades Include Far Less Than Half Of Actual Self-Defense Homicides
Web Page
YouTube
In Oklahoma, three armed home invaders are killed by a resident acting in self defense - he is not charged. In Texas, one of two armed robbers is shot and killed by a Pizza shop clerk, he also is not charged. A local high school football star is shot and killed during a home invasion. Again, no charges are brought against the homeowner. An 84 year old man shoots and kills one of two home invaders. You guessed it, the senior citizen wasn't charged. How many of these justifiable homicides will be reported as such to the FBI? Answer: None will. Not one.
Because An Accomplice Survived, This
Justifiable Homicide Will Be Reported As
A Murder
The reason is simple: In every one of the above cases, at least one accomplice survived. Under the felony murder rule, that accomplice is guilty of the first degree murder of their dead buddy. Even if the accomplice of the felon who is killed escapes and is never charged, since someone could be charged with murder the homicide is not listed as justifiable and is not reported to the FBI as such EVEN THOUGH THE ACTIONS OF THE PERSON ACTING IN SELF-DEFENSE ARE FOUND JUSTIFIABLE.
For several years, I have located and posted local news stories involving the self defense use of firearms. First of all, a minority of these cases involve shots being fired and a minority of these involve someone being killed. Unfortunately, the FBI does not keep stats on Defensive Gun Uses (DGUs). All we have is the number of justifiable homicides. So, how many justifiable homicides are not reported because of the felony murder rule? Well, I would estimate that 35-50% of self defense shootings where a criminal is shot and killed involve accomplices who survive. This means that, due to this factor alone, the actual number of justifiable homicides are as much as double the official figures.
This is not the only factor that results in massive underreporting of justifiable homicides. There are two other ways in which they are not reported.
The first, and likely the most common, is inadvertent reporting errors. Responding officers file a report listing the killing as simply a homicide. Many departments create their reports to the FBI from these initial reports - which means that most justifiable homicides are not reported as such. Furthermore, depending upon state laws, before a homicide can be ruled justifiable a District Attorney or State's attorney must issue an opinion, or a Grand Jury must fail to indict. Before this can happen, their must be an investigation. This takes time. Then there are the cases where someone is charged and a jury finds them not guilty by reason of self defense. By the time someone corrects the initial report - in the unlikely event that it is corrected, the FBI report has probably been generated and submitted.
How much underreporting results from these kind of errors? Well. in 2012, the Michigan news site MLive reported that in Kalamazoo County 90% of justifiable homicides were not reported to the FBI. Let that sink in: 90% of self defense homicides are reported to the FBI as murders. Worse yet, they found the same problem in Saginaw County and statewide! Given how these errors happened, it is highly likely that these same errors are happening in law enforcement agencies across the nation, to a lesser or greater degree.
The last reason is the worst: Intentional decisions not to report self defense shootings as justifiable homicides - but instead to simply report them as homicides (murders). Indeed the Little Rock Arkansas Police were recently caught reporting zero justifiable homicides. They even reported self defense shootings by their own officers simply as homicides.
 |
| The Little Rock AR Police Even Reported Justified Shooting By Officers As Murders |
However, given the FBI's reporting directives, police departments across the nation can be forgiven for underreporting self-defense homicides. The FBI's definition of a justifiable homicide, published in their UCR Handbook (page 17), is so narrow that it is amazing that any are reported:
NOTE: Justifiable homicide, by definition, occurs in conjunction with other offenses. Therefore, the crime being committed when the justifiable homicide took place must be reported as a separate offense. Reporting agencies should take care to ensure that they do not classify a killing as justifiable or excusable solely on the claims of self-defense or on the action of a coroner, prosecutor, grand jury, or court.
The following scenario illustrates an incident known to law enforcement that reporting agencies would not consider Justifiable Homicide:
17. While playing cards, two men got into an argument. The first man attacked the second with a broken bottle. The second man pulled a gun and killed his attacker. The police arrested the shooter; he claimed self-defense.
So, if someone attacks another person during a verbal argument, with a deadly weapon, and the victim kills the attacker in self-defense - this killing cannot be reported as justifiable (under FBI reporting rules) EVEN IF A GRAND JURY FINDS IT TO BE JUSTIFIABLE!!!
More than this, the decision of "coroner, prosecutor, grand jury, or court" are the most common ways that self-defense homicides are legally determined to be justified. Yet this is not good enough for the FBI! One might ask the question, "If this is not good enough, what do you want?" Is it any wonder that police departments simply report every justifiable homicide, even those committed by their own officers, as simply homicides?
So, let's review:
First, if any accomplice survives a justifiable homicide, it will not be reported as such due to the felony murder rule.
Second, many justifiable homicides are reported as simply homicides (murders) because initial reports are never corrected before the FBI reports are generated.
Third, the FBI reporting rules are so restrictive that most justifiable homicides are eliminated, because a legal determination that the killing was justifiable is not good enough. This results in many law enforcement agencies simply deciding to not report any homicide as justifiable.
The bottom line: It is abundantly clear that the FBI justifiable homicide figures are bogus and have been so for decades. While the real number of self defense homicides is unknown, it is certain that it is many times the reported figure.
This raises one last question: Why is the FBI OK with massively inaccurate figures on self-defense homicides? Excuse me for believing that it is all about gun control vs. gun rights..........
More than this, the decision of "coroner, prosecutor, grand jury, or court" are the most common ways that self-defense homicides are legally determined to be justified. Yet this is not good enough for the FBI! One might ask the question, "If this is not good enough, what do you want?" Is it any wonder that police departments simply report every justifiable homicide, even those committed by their own officers, as simply homicides?
So, let's review:
First, if any accomplice survives a justifiable homicide, it will not be reported as such due to the felony murder rule.
Second, many justifiable homicides are reported as simply homicides (murders) because initial reports are never corrected before the FBI reports are generated.
Third, the FBI reporting rules are so restrictive that most justifiable homicides are eliminated, because a legal determination that the killing was justifiable is not good enough. This results in many law enforcement agencies simply deciding to not report any homicide as justifiable.
The bottom line: It is abundantly clear that the FBI justifiable homicide figures are bogus and have been so for decades. While the real number of self defense homicides is unknown, it is certain that it is many times the reported figure.
This raises one last question: Why is the FBI OK with massively inaccurate figures on self-defense homicides? Excuse me for believing that it is all about gun control vs. gun rights..........
No comments:
Post a Comment