CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) — A team of professional and student analysts at the Cline Center at the University of Illinois spearhead the database, SPOTLITE, which has compiled nearly a decade’s worth of data to track and identify police uses of lethal force across the U.S. Their research has found that the number of police-involved lethal force incidents in the U.S. dropped 24% from 2021 to 2023.
Since there is no official database compiled by the government, SPOTLITE was designed to fill an important gap in the American public’s understanding of policing in the U.S.
SPOTLITE includes any incident in which police used a firearm — including those with nonfatal outcomes — as well as any other use of force that resulted in a death.
In 2021, SPOTLITE data showed 3,474 uses of lethal force by police in the U.S. In 2022, that number had decreased to 2,842 incidents, and in 2023, the number dropped further to 2,631. The 2,631 incidents of police use of lethal force tracked by SPOTLITE in 2023 represented the smallest annual number since 2015, when there were 2,612 incidents nationwide.
Scott Althaus, Director at the Cline Center, said SPOTLITE's role was pattern recognition, but to provide a resource for those looking for information about the usage of lethal force by police in the United States.
"We're hoping by doing this to stimulate more informed public conversations about policing practices and ultimately to help to rebuild trust between policing agencies and the communities that they serve. That ultimately helps to improve the legitimacy of law enforcement in the United States," Althaus said.
Copyright 2025. WAND TV. All rights reserved.
