US police fail to meet basic human rights standards

US police fail to meet basic human rights standards
Riot police chase a man as they clear protesters from Lafayette Park in Washington DC. Photograph: Reuters

Police in America’s biggest cities are failing to meet even the most basic international human rights standards governing the use of lethal force, a new study from the University of Chicago has found.

Researchers in the university’s law school put the lethal use-of-force policies of police in the 20 largest US cities under the microscope. They found not a single police department was operating under guidelines that are compliant with the minimum standards laid out under international human rights laws.

Among the failings identified by the law scholars, some police forces violate the requirement that lethal force should only be wielded when facing an immediate threat and as a last resort. Some departments allow deadly responses in cases of “escaping suspects”, “fugitives”, or “prevention of crime” – all scenarios that would be deemed to fall well outside the boundaries set by international law.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/22/us-police-human-rights-standards-report

Original report – for those interested in the full information

https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=ihrc