Texas Leads Nation In Fatal Police Encounters, But Is There’s More To The Story?

According to Mapping Police Violence, Texas led the nation in "Total People Killed By Police" for 2024.

2024 is also the year one ex-cop was sentenced to 60 years for his role in the deaths of two innocent people during a so-called "no-knock" raid in 2019. Victims Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas are pictured below.

Looking head-on at the numbers, Texas had 165 individuals killed by police in 2024. California, a more populous state, was second with 125, followed by Florida at 96. Rhode Island had the least with no police-related deaths at all.

While any number of deaths by police should be cause for concern, these numbers do not consider per capita deaths. Ohio has a much higher rate per capita than Texas.

A total of 17 Texas police officers died in the line of duty- however, that encompasses more than violence, some of those deaths could have been hyperthermia, car accidents, etc.

The issue of police violence is a polarizing one- some folks feel that police should be able to defend themselves without question, while others feel that they have agreed to risk their lives by accepting the job.

However, in the case of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, former police Gerald Goines was convicted of their murders after it was discovered that he lied to obtain a "no-knock" warrant, according to Houston Public Media.

He believed the couple were involved in selling narcotics, however, in the aftermath of the deadly encounter no drugs were discovered. Officers were also injured in the encounter.

Addressing and reducing police violence and violence against police will require multiple solutions, however, holding officers who make fatal mistakes accountable is a good start.