police violence

A district attorney said Wednesday that an Alabama police officer who fatally shot a teenager in the back was justified in his use of deadly force because the youth grabbed a gun after struggling with the officer. But the teen’s family questioned that conclusion and said they have many unanswered questions about what had happened.

The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020.

A former Alabama police officer charged with murder for shooting an armed Black man in the man's front yard during a dispute with a tow-truck driver shouldn't be granted immunity before going to trial, the state's attorney general says. In a court brief filed late Tuesday, Attorney General Steve Marshall said a lower court was correct in ruling that former Decatur police officer Mac Marquette, 25, failed to show "a clear legal right to prosecutorial immunity” when he fatally shit Stephen Perkins on Sept. 29, 2023.

Lawyers representing the family of a Black teenager shot and killed by police in an Alabama suburb said the state's refusal to release body-camera video during an investigation is fueling mistrust over the shooting.

A small Alabama city has been roiled by accusations that the local police department has a “rampant culture of corruption.” The residents of Hanceville, Alabama, flooded the city council on Thursday for a polarized debate over whether to disband the department altogether.

Alabama lawmakers are advancing a bill that would make it harder to sue police who use excessive or lethal force. Sponsors of the bill said the legislation will increase officer recruitment and improve officer safety.

A man has filed a $20 million federal civil rights lawsuit against police officers in Pickens County, Alabama, saying he was repeatedly and wrongly shocked with a Taser. The lawsuit is based on events depicted in a video that went viral in December.

A federal judge has ruled that the family of former NFL player Glenn Foster Jr., who died in law enforcement custody in Alabama, can pursue a lawsuit alleging his death was the result of excessive force. Foster, a former New Orleans Saints defensive end, died in December 2021, after being taken to jail in Pickens County for allegedly speeding and attempting to elude police.

The FBI is investigating the death of a Black man in Alabama, who was found hanging in an abandoned house, following a request from a local sheriff amid fears among community members who accuse local law enforcement of longstanding, unchecked misconduct.

An Alabama Senate committee voted down a bill that would have required the public release of police body-worn camera video and dash camera footage.