A series of deaths and the 'Big Fight': Uncovering police force in one Midwestern city

Police leaders called the training “routine” when one recruit died and another was badly injured at their academy. Both men had battled the same hulking instructor last year during a tradition known as the “Big Fight.” It wasn’t the first time the Evansville Police Department in Indiana had downplayed the use of force, as a series of four deaths on city streets shows. An Associated Press investigation found a pattern after these deaths: The department decided the force was appropriate, a coroner with ties to law enforcement ruled it didn’t contribute, and prosecutors did not file charges. AP found these dynamics elsewhere, and the Department of Justice has cited similar issues with force in other cities.