1,000. This is the average number of people killed each year since 2015 in the United States by police. While some cases can be justified, in particular by self-defense, others are more disputed. A subject that has become hot again since the death of George Floyd, May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, asphyxiated under the knee of a police officer.
If a feeling of impunity seems widespread among the police, there are a complex of complex factors to explain it. The absence of legal consequences is one of them. Because if the American police can be prosecuted by a prosecutor representing the state, or during a civil lawsuit brought by a citizen, convictions are rare.
Civil cases have even known a disturbing dynamic for the past ten years, linked to a very specific doctrine: qualified immunity. Created by the Supreme Court half a century ago, qualified immunity is supposed to protect public servants while ensuring respect for constitutional rights. However, its sensitive mechanism has been out of whack, and an increasing number of police officers have been exonerated despite acts that are sometimes reprehensible.
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