Controlling Use of Force: Identifying Police Use of Excessive Force through Analysis of Administrative Records

Abstract

Law enforcement agencies have a responsibility to control the use of force by police so as to minimally impact the liberty of citizens while ensuring both officer and public safety. Yet, there is an alarming disconnect between how the police, the public, and the courts view use of force. How can police administrators reliably distinguish justifiable applications of force from unnecessary force, or the use of excessive force, and do so in a manner that balances these differing views while ultimately adhering to legal doctrine? We propose a model and administrative process for identifying and addressing potential incidents of unnecessary force or use of excessive force by combining force factor methodology [Alpert, G. and Dunham, R. (1997). The Force Factor: Measuring Police Use of Force Relative to Suspect Resistance. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.] with the operationalization of the core test and mitigating factors delineated in Graham v. Conner. We provide a preliminary empirical test of this approach using administrative data on use of force incidents in the Seattle Police Department during a recent two-and-a-quarter year period. RESULTS based upon both quantitative and qualitative analyses of administrative records suggest that the proposed model may assist in the identification of potentially excessive force incidents. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. Language: en