PHOENIX – A new report reveals that the city of Phoenix has the highest rate of fatal shootings involving police officers. The study analyzed data from the 10 largest cities in the country.
The findings are part of a comprehensive report on gun violence compiled over the past eight months and published by the Arizona Public Health Association.
The report details that the rate of fatal police shootings between 2015-21 was 8.2 per million residents in Phoenix, while in San Antonio it was 5.1 per million and Los Angeles was 3.9 per million.
Tucson and Mesa, which are not among the 10 most populous cities in the country, also had higher rates of shootings than San Antonio.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Below is a list of the main statistics related to gun violence in Arizona.
- The Phoenix Police Department had the highest rate of police shootings per 1,000 officers among the nation’s 10 largest cities between 2015 and 2021.
- The firearm death rate in Arizona was 42% higher than the national rate between 1999-2020.
- More than 200 Arizonans were accidentally killed in shootings between 1999 and 2020.
- Arizona has the fifth highest rate of undetermined firearm deaths in the country.
- A 2021 national survey indicated that 32% of Arizona adults owned a gun and 29% of these gun owners have ever owned an AR-15 assault rifle.
- Firearms were present in 58% of suicides in Arizona from 1999 to 2020.
- Between 1970 and November 2022, there were 20 school shootings in Arizona, six of which occurred in the past three years.
In the executive summary provided by the Arizona Public Health Association, it specifies that the report documents the statistics, but does not delve into the causes.