The death penalty does not deter criminals from committing heinous acts of violence and it siphons resources from the evidence-based tools that actually keep us safe. Many law enforcement officials say the death penalty wastes valuable crime prevention resources. Plus, the time and money spent securing a handful of death sentences and executions means countless other crimes go unsolved.
The data doesn’t like: deterrence is a myth
- The National Research Council reviewed more than three decades of research and found no credible evidence that the death penalty deters violent crime like homicide.
- When states have abolished the death penalty, murder rates have not followed any consistent pattern of change. Rates in states that formerly retained the death penalty follow national trends rather than spiking or falling after abolition.
- 88% of the nation’s leading criminologists said they did not believe the death penalty deters homicides.
- Police chiefs ranked the death penalty LAST among effective ways to reduce violent crime in a 2009 survey. A full 99% said that changes such as reducing drug abuse or improving the economy were more important than the death penalty in reducing violent crime.
- Based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting statistics examined by the Death Penalty Information Center, state and regional homicide trends do not demonstrate a correlation between capital punishment and reduced murder rates.
The death penalty diverts valuable resources away from crime prevention
“The death penalty is certainly not an effective law enforcement tool. Effective law enforcement and crime prevention requires precious resources that are being wasted on this ineffective and broken program. In times of fiscal crisis the programs that fail to achieve their own goals should be the first to go.” – Ken Jones, 33-year veteran of Illinois’ Cook County Police Department
“If the millions of dollars currently spent on the death penalty were spent on investigating unsolved homicides, modernizing crime labs and expanding effective violence prevention programs, our communities would be much safer.” – Ray Samuels, former Police Chief of Newark, California
A unique impact on law enforcement
- Law enforcement officials see first-hand the wide range of things that go wrong in capital cases. Even with the best intentions, police officers, lab technicians, prosecutors, judges, and witnesses can make mistakes or errors in judgment.
- Corrections officers and wardens who have participated in executions have found the experience takes a toll. Many have reported mental health problems, alcohol abuse, and have even committed suicide from the stress of carrying out the death penalty.
CASE STUDY: Robert Roberson
Robert Roberson is an innocent father with Autism who has spent over 20 years on death row in Texas for a crime that never occurred. He faced execution dates in 2024 and again in 2025, even though no court has yet reviewed the mountain of evidence proving that the tragic 2002 death of Roberson’s chronically ill toddler, Nikki, resulted from illness, medical error, and accident. Roberson is the first person in the United States to face execution for a conviction obtained using the now widely debunked “Shaken Baby Syndrome” (SBS) hypothesis.
Brian Wharton, former chief of police in Palestine, Texas, served as lead detective at the time of Robert Roberson’s conviction for the death of his two-year-old daughter Nikki. Wharton testified for the state and helped send Roberson to death now.
Wharton now believes in Mr. Roberson’s innocence and opposes the death penalty. In a powerful video for The New York Times, Mr. Wharton recounts his role in the investigation of Robert’s daughter’s death.
“We as human beings are incapable of producing the kind of fairness and justice required to take someone’s life,” said Wharton.
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