Deferred‑prosecution accountability gap

Deferred‑prosecution agreements that resolve lethal‑use cases without jail create a recurring governance problem: families and communities receive public acknowledgement but often no proportional deterrent, and the bargains can obscure who bears responsibility. Jurisdictions should standardize transparency and restorative conditions for such deals — mandatory victim‑family participation, published factual findings, conditional restitution/ community service, and independent oversight — so plea mechanics do not substitute for substantive public accountability. — If widely used, deferred prosecutions in death cases will reshape norms of criminal responsibility, especially in racially fraught incidents, so establishing public standards matters for trust in prosecutors, deterrence, and restorative justice.