SPOKANE, Wash. – After two police shootings last week that left two potentially armed suspects dead, the Spokane Police Department (SPD) moved up to second in the nation for the number of police killings by population, according to Mapping Police Violence (MPV).
MVP reports that from 2013 to 2024, SPD averaged 9.8 killings per 228,989 citizens.
The increase comes after SPD was involved in multiple deadly police shootings since the start of 2024.
On Jan. 31, nine Spokane police officers shot and killed a man they say was armed on Spokane’s South Hill. On Feb. 12, three officers shot and killed a suspect who allegedly shot a woman multiple times, including the neck, in a north Spokane home. That same day, two other officers shot and killed a suspect in downtown Spokane after he allegedly threatened two people with a knife.
In a report from Police Strategies, out of 106 cities, SPD ranks 43rd in the nation for deaths per 10,000 reported crimes.
“Spokane has an above average crime rate. Therefore when we use reported crimes rather than population as a benchmark, the death rates for Spokane are reduced. For some cities with lower crime rates their rankings increased when deaths were compared with reported crimes rather than the population,” said Bob Scales with Police Strategies.
According to Police Strategies, Spokane averaged 1.25 deaths per 10,000 reported crimes each year, only slightly higher than 1.11 deaths for every city.
On Jan. 30, four Spokane County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and killed a suspect who they say was armed and threatening to kill his neighbor. This shooting is not reflected in the data for SPD.
