2023 was one of the deadliest for police shootings in Idaho. Here’s a look at the data.

(Idaho Statesman) — Law enforcement officers in Idaho shot and killed 13 people in 2023, making last year one of the deadliest for police shootings, according to an Idaho Statesman analysis of data dating back to 2000.

Seven of those shootings happened in the Treasure Valley, and the Boise Police Department was responsible for four — the most in a single year during the time frame the Statesman analyzed. Six were in Ada County and one in Canyon County.

Over the past 24 years, the number of fatal police shootings across Idaho has increased per capita. For every million Idaho residents in the early 2000s, one to two people were killed by police shootings. That number reached a peak of about seven deaths per million residents at the hands of police in 2018 and again in 2023.

Boise Police Department Chief Ron Winegar said last year that police shootings were happening “far too frequently” in the city. Across the U.S., fatal police shootings continue to rise, though experts say there’s not enough data to determine whether the increase is a trend or simply random.

What we know about crime rates

While the number of fatal police shootings is on the rise — from single-digit annual fatalities in the early 2000s to double-digit fatality years since 2018 — it’s difficult to draw conclusions from such a small data set. To make matters more complicated, there is no comprehensive database of lethal police use of force in Idaho or any other state.

The FBI created a new database to track police shootings in 2019, but the data isn’t publicly available, and according to The Washington Post, hundreds of shootings are not on the list.

The increase in shootings by law enforcement coincides with a population surge in Idaho, as well as an uptick in the number of violent crimes in recent years around the state. In 2022, 4,715 violent crimes — including murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery — were reported to Idaho’s law enforcement agencies, according to Idaho State Police data. These made up about 6% of the state’s roughly 79,000 offenses.

Back in the 2000s, roughly 3,400 of the state’s annual offenses were considered violent crimes per year.

Although violent crime rates have trended upward since the 2000s, the overall crime rate has been much lower in recent years. In 2022, Idaho saw its fewest reported crimes since at least 2000. There were roughly 4,000 crimes reported that year for every 100,000 residents, compared to almost 7,000 crimes per 100,000 residents in 2000.

Fatal police shootings

While race and ethnicity data were not available for each of the 128 people killed by police since 2000, nearly two-thirds of that number were identified as white. The overwhelming majority, 94%, were men. The average age of people killed by police was 33.

In 2023, February, October and December were the only months when police in Idaho did not shoot and kill someone.

The following are brief descriptions of the fatal police shootings from 2023, as well as a Statesman database of fatal shootings dating back to 2000.

• Jan. 23: Eli Nash, 32, Boise Police Department. Fairview Avenue and Eagle Road, Meridian. Police were executing a warrant for Nash, who was wanted for “absconding parole” on charges related to child pornography. Boise police said they approached Nash in his vehicle and he “produced a weapon.” A firearm was found at the scene.
• Jan. 27: Matthew Planer, 52, Pocatello Police Department. East Center Street, Pocatello. Police responded to a domestic violence call at an apartment. While interviewing Planer, who was described as acting “erratically,” he grabbed a kitchen knife and raised it at an officer, who shot Planer once in the chest, police said.
• March 30: Nicholle Lockyer, 38, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. Gem State Park, Idaho Falls. The Sheriff’s Office said that during a “vehicle check,” a deputy learned Lockyer was wanted for a felony probation violation. She tried to flee in her vehicle, hitting a deputy with her car. Two deputies shot her.
• April 10: Jared Decker, 40, Ada County Sheriff’s Office. Interstate 84 near Eisenman Road exit. Ada County officials said they had reports of a man walking on Interstate 84. He was walking a bike and “refused” to listen to deputies and leave the road. A deputy grabbed Decker’s backpack; Decker stabbed the deputy and was shot.
• April 12: Zachary Wayne Pace, 36, Blackfoot Police Department and Bingham County Sheriff’s Office. Highway 91 near Blackfoot exit. Idaho State Police said a high-speed chase with Pace, who was wanted for charges including kidnapping, ended near Interstate 15, where Pace crashed his vehicle. Officers from the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office and Blackfoot Police Department shot Pace.
• May 15: Unidentified man, 45, Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office. 300 block of Fafnir Drive, Kimberly. Police said they were trying to serve the man with a protection order at a home on Fafnir Drive when he armed himself with a knife and shotgun. Officials said they shot him when he failed to comply with orders. The Twin Falls Coroner’s Office and Idaho State Police, which is leading the Critical Incident Task Force, did not respond to Statesman requests to identify the man.
• June 24: Payton Wasson, 22, Boise Police Department. 5th and Idaho streets, Boise. In a news release, Boise police said they were investigating “gang activity” or “narcotic sales,” and approached a car downtown. Wasson fled the scene with a gun in his hand, officials said. One officer shot him, but police have released little other information. Wasson’s mother has filed a tort claim seeking millions in damages.
• July 26: Macey Juker, 28, Boise Police Department. 19th and Washington streets, Boise. Police shot at and killed Juker while responding to reports of an armed subject in the North End, police said. The agency said responding officers “encountered a subject firing a rifle in a neighborhood” and were “immediately engaged in gunfire” when they arrived at the scene.
• Aug. 3: Christian Johnson, 54, Boise Police Department. Morrison Park Apartments near Dale Street, Boise. Winegar told reporters that Johnson called police for assistance at his apartment and spoke to them from his balcony before coming downstairs and “charging” at officers while carrying “sharp” or “hitched” weapons. Two officers shot at him.
• Aug. 16: Adam Trejo, 37, Nampa Police Department. Marketplace and Midland Road, Nampa. Police said Trejo fled a local hospital, stole knives from a restaurant and “lunged aggressively” at a citizen, prompting police to shoot him. Officials said Trejo appeared to be having a mental crisis.
• Sept. 7: Christoffer Huffman, 41, Star Police Department. Idaho 16 and Floating Feather Road. Police responded to a report of a man in a field with a firearm threatening to harm himself. Huffman fired his weapon and fell, and then moved around and waved the firearm before an officer shot him, officials said.
• Sept. 7: Unidentified man, Fort Hall Police. Sheepskin Road, Fort Hall. Police said a man was knocking on the door of a residence on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and refusing to leave, and then charged an officer with a knife. The officer shot and killed the man after trying to get him to drop the knife, police said. Tribal officials said they would not identify the man publicly out of respect for his family.
• Nov. 1: S.A. Floyd, 67, Spirit Lake Police Department. Maple Tree Court, Spirit Lake. Police responded to a mental health call at a senior living facility, where officers entered her home and fired their weapons. Police later said they “found” Floyd dead with a firearm nearby, but few other details have been released.