How Police Justify Killings at Traffic Stops: ‘The Car Was a Weapon’

PHENIX CITY, Ala. — On a Sunday successful May 2017, a patrol car sat extracurricular the city’s oldest nationalist lodging project, waiting for anyone acting suspiciously. The 2 constabulary officers heard Cedric Mifflin earlier they saw him, blasting euphony from a metallic Mercury Grand Marquis. Then they tried to propulsion him over: He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

Mr. Mifflin, a 27-year-old Black man, kept driving. What happened adjacent is disputed, but however it ended is certain. Officer Michael Seavers leapt retired of the patrol car, drew his weapon and fired 16 times astatine the moving car. He thought Mr. Mifflin intended to tally him over, helium said later.

“I had ne'er felt the fearfulness that I had astatine that moment,” Officer Seavers, who is white, told investigators successful a statement. He said helium thought of what a conveyance tin bash “to a quality assemblage and however I would dice if I didn’t react.”

The officer’s defence of sidesplitting Mr. Mifflin, who wielded neither a weapon nor a knife, is 1 repeated implicit and implicit crossed the country: The conveyance was a weapon. In a New York Times probe of car stops that near more than 400 likewise unarmed radical dormant implicit the past 5 years, those words were routinely utilized to explicate wherefore constabulary officers had fired astatine drivers.

When asked successful a deposition whether a antheral helium had fatally changeable successful 2017 had utilized a weapon, an serviceman successful Forest Park, Ill., answered, “Other than a moving vehicle, no.”

Minutes aft sheriff’s deputies adjacent San Leandro, Calif., killed a shoplifting fishy and injured a rider successful an S.U.V. successful aboriginal 2019, an serviceman asked what weapons they had been equipped with. “A vehicle,” 1 lawman replied.

And a lawyer for a sheriff’s lawman who changeable a operator successful Wichita, Kan., successful precocious 2019 said the motorist had utilized “a 4,500-pound conveyance arsenic a weapon.”

In astir 250 of the cases, The Times recovered that constabulary officers had fired into vehicles that they aboriginal claimed posed specified a threat. Relative to the population, Black motorists were overrepresented among those killed.

Like Mr. Mifflin, the different drivers had been pursued for nonviolent offenses, galore of them minor. A seatbelt summons successful Phenix City that would person outgo $41. A cracked taillight successful Georgia, a breached headlight successful Colorado, an expired registration tag successful Texas. Most motorists were killed portion attempting to flee.

The country’s largest cities, from New York to Los Angeles, have barred officers from shooting astatine moving vehicles. The U.S. Justice Department has warned against the signifier for decades, pressuring constabulary departments to forbid it. Police academies don’t adjacent bid recruits however to occurrence astatine a car. The hazard of injuring guiltless radical is considered excessively great; the thought of stopping a car with a slug is viewed arsenic wishful thinking.

“Bad idea. Bad to do,” said Carmen Best, the erstwhile Seattle constabulary chief, successful an interview. “If you deliberation the conveyance is coming toward you, get yourself retired of the way.”

Moving vehicles tin beryllium deadly. Nine officers person been fatally tally over, pinned oregon dragged by drivers successful vehicles approached for insignificant oregon nonviolent offenses successful the past 5 years.

But successful galore instances, section constabulary officers, authorities troopers and sheriff’s deputies put themselves astatine risk by jumping successful beforehand of moving cars, past aiming their guns astatine the drivers arsenic if successful a Hollywood movie, according to body-camera footage. Or they reached into cars and became entangled with motorists, past opened fire.

“You spot galore wherever bullets are successful the backmost of the car, successful the broadside of the car,” said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminologist astatine the University of South Carolina who has researched high-risk constabulary activities for much than 30 years. “In the precocious 90 percentile of cases I’ve seen, the person’s conscionable trying to get away.”

Some officers who fatally changeable motorists didn’t look to beryllium successful immoderate jeopardy astatine all, The Times reappraisal showed. In immoderate cases the conveyance was stationary, adjacent incapable of moving. Yet prosecutors recovered that the assertion that officers feared for their lives oregon the lives of others was capable to warrant each but the rarest of shootings.

Officer Seavers faced nary charges successful the Mifflin case. Phenix City and authorities officials person declined to merchandise constabulary body- and dashboard-camera videos of the fatal encounter. “All it’ll bash is inflame people, and radical don’t recognize the good points of the law,” the city’s lawyer, James McKoon, said successful an interview. “And this feline was frightened to decease erstwhile helium shot.”

Jeremy Bauer, a forensics adept successful Seattle who has testified for constabulary departments nationwide and for families of radical killed, reviewed the authorities investigative report, witnesser testimony, photographs and different materials and concluded that the serviceman had not been successful peril. It would person been impossible, helium said, for Mr. Mifflin to person been headed for Officer Seavers erstwhile the shots were fired.

“The serviceman conscionable wouldn’t person been successful the way of the vehicle,” Dr. Bauer said.

Enacting a Ban

Once, Phenix City was known arsenic the Sin City of the South, and its large manufacture was vice: gambling, brothels and bootleg booze. In 1940, the U.S. caput of warfare called it the “wickedest metropolis successful America.” Politicians and the constabulary were connected the take. After a apical campaigner successful the Alabama lawyer general’s contention successful 1954 pledged to cleanable up the city, helium was gunned down.

Now, the municipality has a caller slogan: “Positively Phenix City.” Local officials inactive boast of its 2007 BusinessWeek designation arsenic 1 of the country’s astir affordable suburbs — conscionable crossed the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Ga. — for raising a family.

The metropolis is emblematic of galore communities wherever fatal constabulary encounters with motorists person occurred implicit the past 5 years. It’s successful the South. It has less than 50 patrol officers. With nether 39,000 residents, it’s comparatively small. The constabulary section has little grooming and qualification requirements than those of large cities. A G.E.D is enough.

“They’re not Navy SEALs,” said Kenneth Davis, the territory lawyer successful Russell County, location to Phenix City. “These guys are mean guys.”

The chief, Ray Smith, joined the section 32 years agone and has led it for the past 12. His 2 predecessors each spent decades with the department. Its use-of-force argumentation — governing however officers are permitted to subdue radical — has not been revised to see reforms that galore different departments person adopted. Chief Smith didn’t respond to aggregate requests for an interview. Neither the constabulary section nor Mr. McKoon responded to elaborate questions astir The Times’s findings.

Law enforcement killed 2 unarmed Black men present successful 2013: One was changeable aft helium drove done a halt sign, led officers connected a chase, fled his car and allegedly refused to travel retired from nether a vehicle; another, naked and mentally ill, died aft being stunned with a Taser 19 times and past restrained.

But determination was nary citywide protest, nary Ferguson fallout, nary George Floyd moment.

Phenix City’s use-of-force argumentation mentions that constabulary officers tin occurrence their weapons to “destroy” a threatening animal. It allows for shooting “during scope signifier oregon competitory sporting events.” While it prohibits firing from wrong a moving vehicle, it doesn’t accidental thing astir shooting astatine moving vehicles.

That is unusual: Out of astir 200 departments that had specified shootings and provided their policies to The Times, conscionable 13 did not code the issue.

“It’s thing that has ne'er travel up,” said Chief Darryl Laxton, successful Oneida, Tenn. He added: “This is not a precise progressive place. A batch doesn’t spell on.”

Most different departments surveyed had policies prohibiting officers from shooting astatine moving vehicles — but they were ambiguously worded and allowed officers to bash truthful if they felt the need.

Critics of the signifier reason that shooting astatine a operator is ineffective oregon adjacent disastrous. “It’s similar you’ve created an unguided missile,” said Chuck Wexler, the enforcement manager of the Police Executive Research Forum, a instrumentality enforcement argumentation nonprofit. “You’ve fundamentally mislaid control.”

To place cases wherever constabulary fired into vehicles, The Times reviewed information collected by The Washington Post and the probe groups Mapping Police Violence and Fatal Encounters. Reporters past filed hundreds of public-records requests, analyzed much than 115 video and audio recordings, examined investigative records and interviewed dozens of experts and motorists’ families. In summation to the 250 different unarmed drivers, scores of specified shootings progressive motorists who held weapons oregon were being pursued for convulsive crimes.

The question to halt shooting into moving vehicles began successful New York City successful 1972. The constabulary section banned the signifier arsenic portion of a bundle of reforms aft an serviceman changeable and killed an 11-year-old boy, who had been joyriding with 2 friends, and wounded the operator and 2 passers-by.

In 1972, the city’s constabulary officers were progressive successful 994 shooting incidents of immoderate kind; the adjacent year, 665. By 2019, officers fired their guns lone 52 times. And since the ban, not 1 on-duty serviceman has been killed by a conveyance fleeing a postulation stop.

No 1 disputes that cars tin beryllium deadly: Scores of officers person been killed moving mishap scenes oregon penning tickets. But nary serviceman successful immoderate large metropolis that has banned the signifier has been fatally tally implicit by a conveyance helium oregon she stopped.

The bans haven’t wholly stopped the constabulary from fatally shooting unarmed motorists successful moving vehicles not suspected successful convulsive crimes. Still, lone 11 specified deaths person occurred successful those departments collectively successful the past 5 years.

Compare that with Honolulu, a metropolis of astir 350,000. Between 2016 and 2020, officers determination shot four unarmed motorists.

On April 1, the section tightened its rules, but with a large exception: Officers could sprout if “the vehicle’s question poses a menace that justifies the usage of deadly force.”

Four days later, officers pursued a stolen car suspected successful an equipped robbery and 2 purse snatchings. After it stopped, officers fired 15 shots, hitting the 16-year-old driver, Iremamber Sykap, successful the backmost of the head, records show. Two officers said they changeable to support themselves and “members of the public.” One said the teen had “rammed” his patrol car and “reversed” straight astatine him.

But body-cam videos amusement that the patrol car wasn’t rammed, the car didn’t reverse straight astatine the serviceman and officers fired erstwhile it was moving away.

The 3 officers were criminally charged, but a justice dismissed the charges. The officers are backmost connected patrol.

A Stop, a Chase and 16 Bullets

Mr. Mifflin’s friends thought helium would go a comedian. They called him “Kevin Hart” due to the fact that helium looked and behaved similar the comic-actor. Mr. Mifflin pretended to find the nickname tiresome — “Lol present u go,” he’d constitute connected Facebook — but helium embraced it.

He sported a tattoo of praying hands connected his near forearm; his close was inked with the sanction of his daughter, Shay, whom helium fathered successful precocious school. If friends got annoyed astatine him, he’d badger them into forgiveness. Only 5-foot-4 and 130 pounds, Mr. Mifflin acted streetwise, posing similar a pugnacious feline successful photos. But that was a front; helium ne'er got into fights, and friends often mocked him for however helium spent his Sunday mornings.

“He was the 1 who stayed successful religion with his grandma,” said Dontrell Grier, Mr. Mifflin’s stepbrother.

He worked stocking shelves astatine Walmart and Piggly Wiggly. He loved cars, but helium allowed much than 8 years of postulation tickets for infractions similar driving without a seatbelt spiral into a crisis, including a suspended driver’s license, a misdemeanor for not showing up successful court, thousands of dollars successful fines and imaginable jailhouse time, according to tribunal records.

Mr. Mifflin stole $265 from the Piggly Wiggly erstwhile helium was 26, astir the aforesaid clip helium mislaid his occupation there, records show. And Walmart aboriginal terminated him.

On that fateful Sunday successful May 2017, helium drove from Columbus to Phenix City to prime up a person astatine the Frederick Douglass Homes, a public-housing analyzable with mostly Black residents.

The officers’ determination to propulsion him implicit appeared to beryllium a “pretextual” stop, erstwhile the constabulary halt drivers — often radical of colour — for an infraction and past look for a much superior offense, 2 policing experts said.

The officers seemed to beryllium “looking for a crushed to halt him due to the fact that they felt that helium was up to nary bully — he plays large music, helium doesn’t person a seatbelt,” said Michael Gennaco, a erstwhile national authoritative who works with constabulary departments to amended accountability and reviewed the lawsuit for The Times.

Why did Mr. Mifflin thrust off? Maybe due to the fact that of the suspended license. Maybe due to the fact that of a communicative his stepbrother liked to tell: Mr. Grier had been a rider successful a car pulled implicit aft the operator initially didn’t obey commands to stop. The Phenix City officers had aimed their weapons astatine him and dragged him retired of the conveyance and crossed a parking lot.

Whatever the reason, alternatively of complying, Mr. Mifflin sped crossed a engaged road. The constabulary chased him. At that point, helium was conscionable 4 minutes from the Georgia line. He lone needed to marque it to the country adjacent Ed’s barbecue, instrumentality a mates of turns and transverse a bridge.

But an S.U.V. blocked his path: Djaron Green, a manager for a fiscal company, was astir to crook into the edifice for lunch.

So Mr. Mifflin whipped his car into Ed’s parking lot, stalling out, Mr. Green recalled successful an interview. Sirens blaring, the cruiser came to a stop, pointing toward Mr. Mifflin’s rear rider door, according to the study by the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, which examines immoderate officer-involved death.

Officer Seavers jumped retired of the rider broadside of the patrol car. Gun drawn, helium confronted Mr. Mifflin.

The operator backed his car distant from the edifice — the serviceman aboriginal described the vehicle’s “spinning tires” to investigators, according to the authorities report, obtained by The Times from Mr. Mifflin’s family. The papers included immoderate details from the unreleased body- and dash-cam videos, mentioning that Mr. Mifflin’s “front close tyre was turned to the close towards the country of Officer Seavers.”

Officer Seavers did not reply to requests for comment; astir of the different officers mentioned successful this nonfiction declined to remark oregon could not beryllium reached. Officer Seavers told authorities investigators that the Mercury had travel consecutive astatine him. So did an Ed’s worker who was wrong the edifice during the encounter; she did not respond to messages from The Times.

But Mr. Green, the closest witness, said the car ne'er came adjacent Officer Seavers. Instead, helium said, it appeared to determination astir him. And Dr. Bauer, the forensic expert, concluded that Officer Seavers was ne'er successful harm’s way.

Dr. Bauer created a video reconstruction for The Times, drafting connected the authorities study and different records. (The Times offered to fto authorities and metropolis officials reappraisal the video; they declined.) The serviceman initially fired twice; some shots entered the rider broadside of the beforehand model astatine a crisp angle, indicating that the car was moving past the officers, Dr. Bauer said. Both deed Mr. Mifflin. Either would person been fatal.

The conveyance kept traveling forward; Officer Seavers turned his assemblage and his weapon to follow. Four bullets entered the passenger’s broadside of the car. As it passed, the patrolman emptied his magazine, striking the backmost of the car aggregate times, the authorities probe shows.

“His beingness was not successful information if the conveyance was leaving,” said Isaac Lawrence, Mr. Mifflin’s grandfather, who added that helium had been trained ne'er to occurrence astatine moving vehicles. He wanted to inquire the officer, “So wherefore did you sprout him?”

Mr. Mifflin’s sedan drifted crossed a road and yet stopped astatine a used-car lot. At first, the 2 officers thought Mr. Mifflin had fled connected foot. Instead, helium was slumped over, dying from 7 slug wounds.

Creating Their Own Jeopardy

In November 2020, Deputy Jafet Santiago-Miranda of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office searched for a stolen car successful Cocoa, Fla. He spotted a akin vehicle, which pulled into a driveway, past backed out. The lawman near his cruiser and stepped successful beforehand of the car, past fired 10 times arsenic it moved dilatory forward, the dash-cam video shows.

The driver, A.J. Crooms, 16, and a passenger, Sincere Pierce, 18, who had been readying to bent retired with a friend, were dead. Officials aboriginal said that the conveyance was not the stolen car. (As successful respective different cases, guns were aboriginal recovered successful oregon adjacent the car, but they played nary relation successful the confrontation.)

This April, Deputy Nolan Davis of the Delta County Sheriff’s Office successful Colorado tried to propulsion implicit a achromatic Honda with nary licence plates. The operator fled, yet moving implicit “stop sticks” placed by different deputy, which flattened the Honda’s tires. As the car attempted to maneuver betwixt Deputy Davis’s patrol motortruck and a achromatic truck, helium stepped retired of his car into the way of the Honda, body-cam footage shows. Deputy Davis moved backward arsenic helium fired 8 times, adjacent aft the Honda passed him. Paige Pierce, 26, was dead.

The operator “was astir to deed me,” Deputy Davis told his superior. “I had nary choice, Sarge.”

Deputy Davis aboriginal said that erstwhile helium stepped from his patrol motortruck helium thought that the operator whitethorn person exited the Honda and been “possibly stopping to fly connected foot,” according to a reappraisal by the territory attorney.

Neither lawman mislaid their occupation oregon faced transgression charges.

In dozens of fatal cases implicit the past 5 years, officers reacted similarly, jumping successful beforehand of vehicles oregon failing to determination retired of the way.

Such decisions are unsafe for some motorists and officers. Over the past 5 years, 3 officers who leaned wrong vehicles during stops were killed erstwhile the drivers took off. Six others were tally implicit by vehicles they were facing down, similar Amy Caprio, a Baltimore County constabulary serviceman killed successful May 2018 aft responding to a telephone of a suspicious conveyance connected to a burglary.

“I conscionable wanted to get away,” wrote 17-year-old Dawnta Harris to a justice aft moving implicit the officer. “From the bottommost of my heart, I thought she was going to move.”

Many large cities that prohibition shooting into moving vehicles besides accidental officers should not measurement successful beforehand of cars. But of the departments that responded to The Times, much than two-thirds — mostly extracurricular large cities — had nary specified policy.

“If we person to constitute a argumentation to archer idiosyncratic to not measurement successful beforehand of a moving vehicle, past we wouldn’t beryllium hiring precise astute people, would we?” said Capt. Mike McCoy of the Fulshear Police Department successful Texas, which has nary specified ban. “Sometimes, communal consciousness indispensable instrumentality over.”

Shootings sometimes had unintended consequences. In the cases reviewed by The Times, instrumentality enforcement officers did not conscionable deed drivers: They killed 8 passengers and injured astatine slightest 17 more.

In December 2017, for instance, a part-time lawman successful Grundy County, Tenn., named Mike Holmes kept firing aft a Mustang helium had pursued for reckless driving fled — hitting the broadside and rear of the car aggregate times. One slug deed the passenger, Shelby Comer, 20, sidesplitting her. (In an interview, Mr. Holmes, who is nary longer successful instrumentality enforcement, said the operator had pointed a weapon astatine him; nary weapon was ever recovered.)

Mr. Holmes was recovered blameworthy of criminally negligent homicide, 1 of 3 instrumentality enforcement officers convicted aft vehicle-as-weapon shootings successful the past 5 years. “If I’ve ever had a regret successful my life, it’s making that determination to prosecute that Mustang that night,” helium said astatine his sentencing hearing. “I should person discontinued the pursuit. I should person stopped.”

He was fixed 3 years’ probation.

A Pair of Settlements

The time aft Cedric Mifflin was killed, Phenix City’s constabulary main said the brushwood was traumatic not lone for the man’s household “but for the full constabulary department.” He described the decease not arsenic a sidesplitting but arsenic a “situation.”

“We’re going to effort to find retired everything that we tin astir however to debar it successful the future,” Chief Smith pledged astatine a quality conference.

But arsenic of August, Phenix City had not changed its use-of-force argumentation to adjacent notation shooting astatine moving vehicles. Officer Seavers was inactive a patrol officer. The constabulary section did not respond to questions astir whether helium had faced immoderate discipline.

In his written statement, the serviceman said helium fired astatine the rear of the conveyance due to the fact that if Mr. Mifflin had conscionable tried “to termination a constabulary officer, helium wouldn’t hesitate to termination a citizen.”

State investigators waited 2 days to question Officer Seavers and did not grounds their interrogation with him, records show. Mr. Gennaco, 1 of the nation’s apical constabulary oversight consultants, described the state’s enquiry arsenic “inconsistent with basal investigative protocols.”

Mr. Davis, the county’s territory attorney, brought the lawsuit earlier a expansive jury, emblematic successful constabulary shootings. He called a fistful of witnesses and played the body- and dash-cam videos. Police recovered nary weapons oregon drugs successful the car. The expansive assemblage opted not to complaint him.

“I honestly thought it could spell either way,” Mr. Davis recalled.

After the expansive assemblage decision, Mr. Davis suggested to Mr. Mifflin’s mother, Pochya Sanders, that she get a lawyer — proposal helium says helium ever gives successful cases similar this. She hunted for idiosyncratic consenting to writer Phenix City, she said, but astir lawyers told her that Alabama juries broadside with the police.

Two months aft the lawyer she yet recovered filed a wrongful-death suit, the metropolis offered Ms. Sanders $100,000 to settle. Her lawyer, Kenneth Shinbaum, advised her to instrumentality it, adjacent though neither of them had seen the video footage. So she agreed. (The instrumentality steadfast got 50 percent of the settlement, a high rate for specified contingency interest arrangements.)

The metropolis past offered to show her the videos, but she decided that she couldn’t ticker her lad die. Now, Ms. Sanders said successful an interview, she wants them to beryllium made public. “I conscionable request the truth,” she said.

Officer Seavers besides sued the metropolis — a workers’ compensation assertion implicit an “accident occurring connected the job” the time of Mr. Mifflin’s death. The serviceman said helium suffered proceeding nonaccomplishment that day, successful each likelihood due to the fact that of gunfire. The metropolis settled for $5,500.

No constabulary oregon metropolis authoritative reached retired to Mr. Mifflin’s household aft helium was killed, his parent said. She was the 1 to place her son’s bullet-ridden body. “I carried him for 9 months. I’m the archetypal idiosyncratic helium ever talked to, the archetypal idiosyncratic helium ever smelled,” she said.

She chose a babe bluish coffin. At the Looking Good covering store successful downtown Columbus, she picked retired a $50 bluish suit for him. Blue was his color.

Reporting was contributed by Donovan J. Thomas, Rick Rojas, Erica Sweeney, Sydney Cromwell and Glenny Brock. Julie Tate, Susan C. Beachy and Kitty Bennett contributed research.