2,002 U.S. arrest-related deaths in 3 years

More than 2,000 people died during arrests by U.S. state and local police between 2003 and 2005, the U.S. Justice Department reported on Thursday in its first national compilation of arrest-related deaths.

Deaths involving tasers or stun guns, which human rights advocates have criticized as inhumane, also rose sharply during the period.

Congress mandated the report in its Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000, billed as a way to hold law enforcement accountable for suspicious deaths.

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