Criticism does not constrain: testing for evidence of de-policing following the murder of George Floyd

Abstract

PurposeFollowing the shooting of Michael Brown, much scholarly attention has been paid to the so-called “Ferguson effect” resulting from rhetoric that public scrutiny of the police will lead to de-policing. The present study tests this effect due to similar rhetoric that has re-emerged in public and media dialogue in response to Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020.Design/methodology/approachUsing Open Minneapolis' Police Use of Force dataset, the study employs interrupted time series analysis models of weekly use of force events against all citizens, as well as use of force against Black citizens specifically. Two models for each population are conducted due to data concerns: a set from January 2019 to June 2021, and a set from January 2019 to September 2020, with the week of George Floyd's death as the interruption point.FindingsBoth models using September 2020 as the cutoff show no statistically significant variance in police use of force against subjects overall or against Black citizens following the immediate aftermath of protests. However, both models using June 2021 as the cutoff demonstrate a statistically significant rise in use of force against both populations following the interruption point.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to examine de-policing following the George Floyd protests, and among the first to examine use of force rates beyond fatal force. Implications for research and practice are discussed, such as data availability and quality, as well as diverse perspectives surrounding de-policing and their implications for police practice.