Police Brutality / Individual record
Reginald Doucet
Unarmed former college football player Reginald Doucet Jr. was fatally shot by LAPD officer Aaron Goff outside his Playa Vista home in January 2011.
- Record ID
- PB-044
- Date of death
- January 14, 2011
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- Category
- Police shooting
What happened
On January 14, 2011, police responded to an early-morning disturbance involving 25-year-old Reginald Doucet Jr. after a disagreement with a taxi driver. Reports describe him as naked and visibly distressed. Officers said they were initially able to communicate with him and persuade him to put on shorts, but he ran when they tried to detain him. A struggle developed near an apartment doorway and officer Aaron Goff shot him. Police alleged Doucet tried to take an officer's firearm; his family and civil-rights critics questioned why two officers could not have managed an unarmed man without lethal force and examined how the encounter escalated.
Investigation & findings
The Los Angeles Police Commission found the shooting within policy, and Doucet's relatives pursued civil litigation. In 2016 the city approved a $1.65 million settlement for his family; a settlement is not a criminal finding.
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- Historical source-derived record, pre-2015
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Published historical compilation of Black people killed in police custody (1999–2014)SAGE journal / cited NAACP LDF memorial listing · 2016 · Secondary scholarly source