De-escalation training is designed to help police officers handle confrontations appropriately. Using force often just escalates the situation and makes things worse. Officers need to be able to talk to subjects and take intentional steps to avoid violence, de-escalating the conflict until it can be resolved peacefully.
Not all states require de-escalation training, but New Mexico does. Officers are supposed to be trained in the tactics they can use so that they do not face accusations of excessive force or even police brutality. But is that training actually working?
Fatal police encounter statistics
Some statistics seem to indicate that the training isn’t going far enough. For example, NPR reports that New Mexico is one of the states with the highest rate of civilians being killed by police officers. This is a per capita rate, meaning it considers population numbers, and New Mexico has about 2.1 million people. A full 32 of them lost their lives at the hands of police in 2022, which is close to 15 police killings for every million people in the state. The only state with a higher rate is Wyoming, at 17.
Concerningly, minorities face even greater risks. Those of Hispanic or African-American heritage may be more likely to lose their lives at the hands of police. For example, African Americans make up just 2.7% of the people living in New Mexico, but the rate at which they lose their lives to police officers is four times as high as it is for white residents.
These concerning statistics show how common police brutality still is. Victims and their families need to know exactly what legal steps they can take.