Chauvin's Sentence Is in Line With Rare Time Cops Get Convicted
In fifteen years, only 10 other cops have been found guilty of murder.
A judge’s 22.5 year sentence on Friday for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, isn’t entirely unprecedented — but remains incredibly rare.
In the last 15 years, a total of 11 officers have been convicted in the U.S. of murder for crimes committed while on-duty, according to an analysis by Bowling Green State University professor Philip Stinson. On average, those men received nearly 22 years of jail time, though sentences ranged from just under 7 years to life imprisonment.
Over 1,000 people have been killed by on-duty cops each year since 2013, an annual rate that has held steady, according to Mapping Police Violence, which tracks nationwide police killings.