If deadly force is used, there will be a criminal investigation into the death of your loved one to determine if a crime was committed. In Oregon, the criminal investigations are governed by rules set up in 2008 under Senate Bill 111. Each County develops its own Deadly Force Plan and how it will investigate use of deadly force. The plans are all posted on this Oregon DOJ website. Some counties convene a grand jury to consider the evidence; in other counties, the District Attorney makes the determination after reviewing the evidence presented by the investigating team. In Oregon, the last use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer that was determined to be criminal was in 1970. Chances are, whatever the circumstances, the death of your loved one will be ruled “justified” or a “legal homicide.” Unfortunately, you need to prepare yourself for this likelihood.

In Washington state, the criminal investigations are conducted by an independent government body, the Office of Independent Investigations. The investigations are conducted by non-law enforcement personnel who are trained in criminal investigations but are not law enforcement. In 2025, Washington State prosecuted and convicted Officer Jeffrey Nelson for the murder of Jesse Sarey in 2019. Officer Nelson was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Even with that “win” (Jesse Sarey was the third person Officer Nelson had killed), it is still very difficult to proceed with a criminal prosecution of a law enforcement officer.

After the criminal investigation is completed, the law enforcement agency may conduct an internal administrative investigation into the use of deadly force. Even if a use of deadly force is ruled “justified” by the District Attorney in a criminal review, there can still be department policy violations that can be flagged by the internal administrative review. Policy violations can lead to disciplinary action for the officer. However, without filing a lawsuit it may be difficult to get information about the internal investigation, findings or results. Additionally, even if the officer is disciplined for misconduct or violating department policies, the discipline action may be overturned later through labor law arbitration proceedings.

Most agencies have a complaint process and formally filing a complaint will trigger an administrative review to address the complaint, including a formal process to respond to the complaint. Some agencies have a civilian review board that review complaints and findings.

Police wrongful death cases, or even excessive force cases, are complicated. There are various deadlines for filing lawsuits and deadlines vary by state. There are federal lawsuits for incidents that violate civil rights and there are state lawsuits for incidents that claim negligence. There is the complexity of Qualified Immunity, which says that an officer has to violate a constitutional right that was “clearly established” in a previous ruling. It’s important to get legal advice from someone with experience in civil rights law, and in particular, police violence cases, or police wrongful death cases. An attorney with the right experience can evaluate the facts of your particular case and advise if you may have a civil lawsuit claim. Because civil rights attorneys are generally only paid if they win a settlement or a jury verdict, they need to weigh the risk of losing a case (and the associated money for the time they invest in it) against the opportunity to try and hold an officer accountable. So depending on the circumstances, it may be difficult to find an attorney who will take it, although most will look at the facts and do an evaluation.

PNWFC does not endorse or recommend attorneys, but our members know some of them from personal experience or our work with other families. Some of the ones we have worked with are listed below. Additionally, another resource to look for an attorney is with the Oregon or Washington Bar Associations. In any event, each family must do their own research when selecting an attorney and ask about relevant experience (how much experience have they had with police violence cases in particular) and fee structure (for example, what percentage do they take if they win, and do they pay for the expenses of preparing the lawsuit or is the client expected to pay the expenses?). While we don’t endorse or recommend attorneys, the following list of civil attorneys have had PNWFC member clients or are known to PNWFC members as attorneys who have expertise in police misconduct and wrongful death cases.

Losing a loved one to police violence brings together a unique set of feelings because there is, at a minimum, grief coupled with trauma. The members of PNWFC try to provide a supportive, healing space for members in a community that understands how this feels. Often people feel called to action to make sense of their loved one’s death and we try and help members participate in advocacy or in supporting other family members and this helps all of us recover and continue moving forward. Family members may want to consider professional counseling options, particularly with counselors that have experience with trauma.

No matter what you or your Loved One did or did not do, your Loved One did not need to be killed by police. Every year, police in the US kill more people in a few months than many other countries’ police kill in years, even when those people have guns and knives in their hands.

Friends and family who are blaming you or your Loved One just don’t understand the lack of transparency or accountability in the U.S. justice system. To help them better understand the systemic nature of police violence, we suggest sharing this report with them: Families and justice in cases of death after police contact in the United States. This final report presents the findings of a research project for which Family Member and PNWFC Founder Irene Kalonji was interviewed. Read the report to learn more about the experiences of Families navigating the criminal-legal system after losing their loved ones to police violence.

It’s important to note that you always have the right not to give a statement to police, and if you do give a statement, you have the right to have legal counsel present. Whether it is a statement for the police investigators or to the media reporters, remember that in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy such as losing a loved one to a police shooting, it is difficult to think clearly. It is easy to jump to conclusions and make assumptions based only on partial knowledge of what actually happened. As you learn more and recover from the shock, your understanding of the situation may change. And police and media reporters have different agendas than helping you process the loss of your loved one. Police are biased toward facts that will help show that the officer(s) involved did nothing wrong, and reporters are looking for a story. Releasing a statement to the media at some point may be in your best interest, but it is good to have a friend or attorney by your side as you decide what to say. It is hard to know who to trust in the immediate aftermath.