Each year, too many law enforcement officers die in the line of duty and too many people are killed by the police. Yet, can any of these deaths be avoided? To answer this we must investigate the nature and causes of these deaths in an unbiased and objective manner to highlight and expose weaknesses in policy that can be amended through more rigorou

Cyril H Wecht, M.D. Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science & Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Dr Henry C Lee, DP Van Blaricom Chief of Police (Retired), Bellevue, Washington, USA. Mel Tucker Raleigh North Carolina, USA.