Police-Involved Shooting Incidents

Knox & Associates, in conjunction with Eagle Crime Scenes, Inc., offers a special service to law enforcement agencies, law enforcement officers, police unions, and attorneys who represent police officers or agencies to assist in the investigation and reconstruction of police-involved shootings. Knox & Associates president Michael A. Knox is a court-qualified expert in shooting incident reconstruction. With the cooperation of Eagle Crime Scenes, Inc., president Michael F. LaForte, Knox & Associates will guarantee to respond to any location within the continental United States within seventy-two hours of a police-involved shooting incident to provide our expertise in the documentation, analysis, and reconstruction of the scene.

The different colors of string in this photo represent the different shooters. One officer's shots are shown with red string, while the other officer's shots are shown with blue.

Our experts have over forty-years of combined law enforcement experience, have investigated over 1,200 death scenes, and have documented and reconstructed dozens of police-involved shooting incidents. With a background in mechanical engineering, Michael A. Knox is able to reconstruct bullet trajectories over both short and long distance shootings, even using computer software to account for the drop a bullet experiences over the course of its flight.

Our methods make it possible to determine which officer fired the fatal shot, as is shown in this photograph.

 

 

Using our techniques, it was possible to determine not only that one of the officers moved during the shooting, but that the suspect vehicle moved during the course of the shooting as well.

 

Knox & Associates can provide the following services:

 

     

Using trajectory evidence and a bullet in this door, it was possible to determine that a mentally-ill man who pointed a gun at police was advancing toward officers even after the first two shots were fired. In all, four shots were fired. The man was killed by the fourth shot.

 

Knox & Associates can also help you explain the number of shots fired in a police-involved shooting incident. Our experts not only bring with them experience and training as crime scene investigators and analysts, but they are experience police officers who understand the dynamics of police-involved shootings. We can help prepare presentations and scene reenactments that will show the media, the public, and the jury just what really happened during a shooting incident. These types of presentations can by very powerful.

 

 

This YouTube video shows a scene reenactment of the infamous Amadou Diallo shooting in which four NYPD officers fired 41 rounds killing Diallo. Although all four officers were charged with Diallo's death, a jury ultimately acquitted them.

 

Note: Knox & Associates does not provide testimony regarding police procedures or the propriety of police-involved shootings. Our testimony is limited strictly to the factual events surrounding the shooting based upon the available physical evidence.

 

Independent Analysis of Shooting Scenes

Why have Knox & Associates respond to your shooting incidents? There is a movement in this country to have police shootings reviewed by boards made up of civilian members who may not have any knowledge or understanding of what really goes on in a police shooting. Knox & Associates offers a vast array of not only crime scene experience, but also law enforcement experience. Our experts are not civilian crime scene investigators who have never experienced the demands of police work. We will work with you to reconstruct every aspect of the shooting incident. We can work to educate civilian review boards and to provide an outside, independent analysis of the evidence. We won't simply tell you what you want to hear, but we will tell you everything that the physical evidence can possibly say.

 

Detailed scene mapping using a laser mapping instrument can provide a detailed scale diagram of the shooting scene and the surroundings.

 

Cost

At Knox & Associates, we recognize that cost is a major factor in the decision making of law enforcement organizations. Knox & Associates will provide its guaranteed seventy-two-hour response time for an annual on-call fee of $2,000. Upon initiation of a case, our normal rates, including retainer, will apply (see our fee schedule, travel expenses may be required in advance). The amount of time involved can vary greatly from case to case; however, you can expect an average shooting incident reconstruction case to cost $15,000 to $20,000. While this figure may seem high, it pales in comparison to the overall cost of defending a lawsuit that arises from a police shooting and only a small fraction of the cost that could be incurred if a judgment is levied against you. For example, a $20,000 cost for shooting incident reconstruction services would be only one-fifth of one percent (0.2%) of a ten million dollar judgment of liability. While Knox & Associates cannot guarantee the outcome of any lawsuit, we can provide you with valuable information that will help you make an informed decision about whether to defend a lawsuit or pay a settlement.

In the event that you choose not to take advantage of Knox & Associates' seventy-two hour response time guarantee, you are still welcome to contact us in the event that you need our services. We will respond as quickly as possible, but we cannot guarantee a minimum response time. Our on-call service is only available in the continental U.S., Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.