Keith Briscoe

Every value below is shown exactly as Fatal Encounters recorded it.^[1]

Name as recorded

Keith Briscoe

Age as recorded

36

Gender as recorded

Male

Race as reported

African-American/Black

Date of the injury resulting in death

May 3, 2010

Location as recorded

Berlin, Camden County100 block Cross Keys Rd. Berlin NJ 08009 Camden

Highest level of force as recorded

Chemical agent/Pepper spray

Agency or agencies involved, as recorded: Winslow Township Police Department

An agency appears here because it appears in the record's as-reported agency field, nothing more. Its presence is not a claim of fault or responsibility.

Fatal Encounters' description of the incident, verbatim. This is the source project's own third-party narrative, not this site's reporting.

When Keith Briscoe refused to get into Officer Sean Richards' police cruiser, the officer attempted to handcuff Briscoe, who resisted. The officer called for backup and up to five officers also attempted to subdue Briscoe. During the struggle, Richards sprayed Briscoe with Oleoresin Capsicum spray. Briscoe suffered traumatic asphyxia and died. Subsequently, the Camden County Medical Examiner determined Briscoe's death was a result of police's efforts to subdue him and called the death a homicide. Richards lost his job and was put on probation for one year.

Source reported by Fatal Encounters: http://www.nj.com/camden/index.ssf/2010/10/winslow_officer_to_forfeit_job.html (external link, as recorded in the dataset).

What does the Fatal Encounters dataset record about this incident?

Fatal Encounters records that Keith Briscoe died on May 3, 2010 in Berlin, Camden County, with "Chemical agent/Pepper spray" as the highest level of force. Fatal Encounters is an independent, crowdsourced dataset of deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind; a record is not a finding of fault or misconduct.

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Which agency or agencies were recorded as involved?

The record's agency field reads "Winslow Township Police Department". Presence in that field means the agency appears in the record as reported, nothing more; it is not a claim of fault or responsibility by any officer or agency.

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Where did this happen?

The record places the death in Berlin, Camden County, on May 3, 2010. The address as recorded is 100 block Cross Keys Rd. Berlin NJ 08009 Camden.

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Does this record mean police caused or were at fault for this death?

No. Fatal Encounters documented deaths that occurred during police encounters of any kind, including vehicle pursuits and crashes, suicides that occurred in police presence, and medical emergencies. This record documents that a death occurred during an encounter; it is not a finding of fault, misconduct, or wrongdoing, and it has no connection to the discipline records elsewhere on this site.

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