2011 Police Department has spent money and made changes, which have led to some improvements. Shootings are down significantly from 1990, when officers shot 27 people, 12 fatally.
New and Real Police Training Video 2011
Still, a year doesn't go by in the nation's seventh-largest city without shootings that infuriate the public and spark calls for reform and harsher punishment of officers.
An officer-involved shooting is a rare event, especially considering police come in contact with city residents more than 1.5 million times a year. But in large cities, shootings are inevitable. A routine traffic stop can turn violent. A confrontation with a seemingly harmless transient can escalate.
Today the streets are as perilous as ever, Bejarano said. Every day, officers deal with narcotics, mental illness and a more heavily armed citizenry.
New and Real Police Training Video 2011
An officer-involved shooting is a rare event, especially considering police come in contact with city residents more than 1.5 million times a year. But in large cities, shootings are inevitable. A routine traffic stop can turn violent. A confrontation with a seemingly harmless transient can escalate.
Today the streets are as perilous as ever, Bejarano said. Every day, officers deal with narcotics, mental illness and a more heavily armed citizenry.
