Examining the Role of Excited Delirium in Police Killings: evidence from Florida (2013-2022)

• In Event: Activist Scholarship

Abstract

On March 23, 2020, Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man, encountered police officers in Rochester, New York, while experiencing a mental health crisis. After being restrained with a 'spit hood' over his head and held face down on the ground for over 2 minutes, Prude lost consciousness and was later pronounced dead. His death was not ruled a police homicide. Instead, the medical examiner initially attributed this to 'excited delirium,' a controversial diagnosis often used in cases involving police restraint. Prude's case, like many others, raised urgent questions about the role of excited delirium in police killings and how it impacts investigations and accountability. Our investigation employs Campaign Zero’s Mapping Police Violence database and a FOIA’d database of individuals killed by police who were ruled as “excited delirium” from 2010-2022 in Florida. We explore the share of police killings in Florida between 2012-2023 that were ruled as excited delirium.

Authors

• M. Gabriela Ayala, Campaign Zero

• Andrew David Zaharia, Campaign Zero