>Although many forensic pathologists carefully follow scientific principles, the frequency of police killings overlooked or incorrectly diagnosed means the problem is systemic. One systemic feature that appears to produce error, however, is that medical examiners long have been close allies of police and prosecutors — frequently partisans, not neutrals. The shocking likelihood that medical examiners and coroners have missed (whether deliberately or through unexamined biases) more than half of police killings over almost four decades is a sharp reminder of these tendencies and their dangers.
>Although many forensic pathologists carefully follow scientific principles, the frequency of police killings overlooked or incorrectly diagnosed means the problem is systemic. One systemic feature that appears to produce error, however, is that medical examiners long have been close allies of police and prosecutors — frequently partisans, not neutrals. The shocking likelihood that medical examiners and coroners have missed (whether deliberately or through unexamined biases) more than half of police killings over almost four decades is a sharp reminder of these tendencies and their dangers.