USA - Justifiable killings rise in Virginia and the nation

OFF THE WIRE
The number of justifiable killings committed by police and private citizens has been trending upward over the past decade, rising in 2009 to their highest levels in more than a dozen years in both Virginia and the nation.

There are no definitive answers to what is causing more law-enforcement officers and individuals to use deadly force in dealing with crime. But some criminologists say changing attitudes about the circumstances in which lethal force can be used in self-defense situations might be a driving factor.

Changes in self-defense laws in numerous states have made it more permissible to use deadly force in defense of oneself and others, crime and law-enforcement analysts say. And increasingly permissive gun laws have made it more likely that people are armed while in public and they might be more willing to use such weapons as a result, they say.

"It's never been easier to be armed, and the laws of self-defense have never favored private individuals as much as they do now," said Jay Albanese, a criminologist and a professor of criminal justice studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. "So if you combine those two, you're likely to get more people shooting in self-defense, or at least believing they're in self-defense.

The uptick in killings by police may also reflect changing attitudes on the streets, where officers have felt more threatened by well-armed offenders, analysts say. The number of officers killed in the line of duty rose 26 percent from 2002 to 2007, then fell two consecutive years before rising again in 2010. The 2011 count is up 4 percent through May 1.

The 413 killings by police nationwide that were ruled justifiable in 2009 were the most since 1994, FBI statistics show. And the 262 killings by private individuals ruled self-defense were the most since 1997. National numbers for 2010 are not yet available.

With some variations, the numbers for both categories have been trending upward since about 2000.

Interestingly, the national rise in justifiable homicides has occurred as violent crime levels have dropped. The estimated U.S. violent crime level total in 2009 was 5.2 percent below the 2005 level and 7.5 percent below the 2000 level, according to the FBI.

A similar trend can be seen in Virginia, where 117 people have died in justifiable killings by police and 95 by private individuals between 1990 and 2010, according to an analysis of state and federal crime statistics by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Guns were used in 94 percent of the deaths.

The 10 killings by police in 2009 that were ruled justifiable in Virginia were the most since 1996, the data show, and the 11 killings by private individuals in 2009 were the highest since at least 1990.

Preliminary state data for 2010 show decreases in both categories, but the five police killings and the eight citizen killings for that year remain above the historic average for the past decade.

Richmond has recorded the highest number of justifiable killings by private citizens in Virginia since 1990 — 15. Six of those occurred in the past two years.

Behind Richmond, the cities of Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News and Virginia Beach rank second through fourth in self-defense killings by citizens over the past 20 years. Newport News and Virginia Beach tied for fourth place with seven each.

Richmond ranks third statewide in justifiable killings by police, with nine. Norfolk had the most, with 14, followed by Virginia State Police with at least 12.

Chesterfield County police are tied with Fairfax and Prince William counties with six killings each over the past 20 years, while Henrico County police had four killings during that period, the data show.

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A number of high-profile killings by police and individuals in recent years has helped raise awareness of these often-controversial deaths in central Virginia.

A Baskin-Robbins manager who pursued and fatally shot an armed man who robbed the South Richmond store in 2007 galvanized public opinion that year about what constituted a justifiable and excusable form of self-defense.

Several other notable cases have followed:

•The July 11, 2009, fatal wounding of a would-be robber in a South Richmond convenience store by an armed friend of the owner, who drew from his holster a six-shot, .45-caliber Western-style revolver and shot James Grooms II, mortally wounding him, after Grooms shot and wounded the store owner. The two men exchanged fire and engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle after the suspect ran out of bullets.

•The Nov. 11, 2009, killing in Petersburg of Harry Stevenson, 25, who was shot as he and an accomplice tried to break into a house in the city. A Petersburg grand jury declined to indict the shooter, Jurell Sykes, deciding that he essentially acted in self-defense when he fired three shots through a door of the home as the intruders tried to enter. Sykes was related to the homeowner, who had acquired a gun for protection after her home had been burglarized a week earlier. Police said it was unclear whether the suspects were armed. Stevenson was found dead about two hours later less than a block from the attempted burglary, and his accomplice, Shamondray Chavis, 20, showed up at Southside Regional Medical Center for treatment of gunshot wounds to his leg. He was later convicted of attempted burglary and sentenced to three months in jail.

•The Oct. 6, 2009, killing of James M. "Jimbo" Hicks Jr., 45, who was fatally shot after authorities said he twice refused an order to drop a shotgun as state and federal officers forced their way into his Dinwiddie County home as part of a federal investigation of the Outlaws and Pagans motorcycle clubs. Hicks, one of several Richmond-area Pagans under investigation, pointed his shotgun at officers and had his finger on the trigger when officers burst inside about 6 a.m. Police knocked and waited 25 seconds before entering, but family members said officers didn't give Hicks time to put down his weapon before they fired.

•The Jan. 28, 2011, killing of Chesterfield County lawyer Richard C. Ferris II, 45, who was fatally shot by Chesterfield police after authorities said he twice engaged SWAT team members with two guns from the garage of his home after an eight-hour standoff. Ferris, who apparently was suicidal, had taken an excessive amount of anti-anxiety medication that evening and had dozens of firearms at his disposal, including three automatic weapons that were placed in a position to be used, authorities said. Ferris was a federally licensed gun dealer and a collector with more than 170 firearms.

Ferris was the third county resident in 20 months to be killed by Chesterfield police in volatile encounters that threatened the lives of officers. Those killings followed the deaths in 2003 and 2006 of two Chesterfield police officers in shootouts with armed suspects.

In the Baskin-Robbins and Petersburg killings, Albanese said it appears "jury nullification" was at work in both cases. Richmond's and Petersburg's commonwealth's attorneys presented evidence to grand juries in both localities, but the panels opted not to indict the shooters.

"Even though the shootings were technically illegal, the grand jury refused to indict," Albanese said. "It's very unusual for a jury to refuse to apply the law as it's written. Those would be concrete examples of not only an increased willingness for private citizens to shoot, but an increased attitude by people who weren't there to say, it's OK."

In the Baskin-Robbins case, Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Michael N. Herring presented evidence to the grand jury for a charge of reckless discharge of a firearm. But the five-member panel concluded that manager David Fielding's actions were justifiable.

"I thought the Baskin-Robbins employee reacted excessively by chasing the robber out into the parking lot and firing eight times, after the clerk had already fired three shots inside the store," Herring said recently. "My concern is that an innocent, unintended person will be struck if this happens more frequently.

"I firmly believe that a person has the right to defend himself or others from imminent harm, but the response must be reasonable and proportionate," Herring added.

In the Petersburg case, Commonwealth's Attorney Cassandra Conover said she was comfortable with the grand jury's decision in that there didn't seem to be enough evidence to raise a presumption of fact for an indictment. "So if it couldn't rise beyond that level, then I was confident that it definitely wouldn't rise to the level I would need for a conviction," she said.

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John D. Reitzel, an assistant professor of criminal-justice studies at VCU, said changing public and even prosecutorial perceptions about what necessarily constitutes justifiable killings might be playing a role in the rising numbers. "And I think it's tied to those changes in laws in a number of states across the country."

Reitzel cited so-called "stand your ground" laws in Florida and more than a dozen other states that allow residents to legally use defensive force, including deadly force, in a growing range of circumstances if they believe such force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury or death.

"You used to have to flee if you were in danger," Reitzel said. "Now you can fight back, and that's not even necessarily on your own property. We're talking about being out in public."

In Virginia, gun owners can openly carry their weapons into state parks, libraries, grocery stores and even into the General Assembly Building. Last year, lawmakers allowed gun owners to carry loaded, concealed weapons into restaurants that serve alcohol, as long as they don't drink.

Those kinds of laws have an effect on public perception, Reitzel said. "To a certain degree, if you're allowing people to carry (weapons) in these places, essentially you're almost expecting them to use it."

Reitzel said a segment of the public might now feel that carrying and using guns in certain circumstances is more acceptable than it once was. "They're looking at the specific facts of the case and saying, 'Let's not be so quick to punish somebody who was rightly defending themselves, or rightly defending somebody else — at least in their mind.'"

Said VCU's Albanese: The self-defense laws "encourage citizens to resolve criminal situations, rather than relying on police. These laws and court decisions have extended one's "castle" to stores and offices — further expanding a citizen's ability to shoot at crime suspects."

Albanese said the rise in justifiable killings by citizens is more troubling than a similar rise in such killings by police — namely because police shootings are, for the most part, closely scrutinized and the officers are well-trained.

But with citizen-initiated shootings, "I just get worried about people being their own police officers," Albanese said. "It tends to result in some unfortunate accidents and bad judgments. The percentage of these people who have an idea of when they are lawfully allowed to use that thing would blow your mind."

Alfred Blumstein, a Carnegie Mellon University criminologist, said a greater availability of guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them — "people who are irresponsible and troublesome, particularly the mentally ill" — may be causing more law-abiding citizens to respond with firepower.

Blumstein cited the shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre and the gunman charged with killing six people and wounding 14 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in Tucson.

"I suspect that it's a greater presence of people who represent a serious threat to people who have guns themselves, and respond with that," Blumstein said. "You're seeing more people with guns who are going to deal with a situation with firepower, than that they might have otherwise dealt with by talking the guy down."

Police may be responding similarly, he said.

"Police see the guy doing crazy things and they may have a quick reaction because the other guy has demonstrated he's got a gun — or is a greater risk because he has a gun — so they may act with more lethal force than they might otherwise have used."

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