Resting heart rate and risk of violent encounters during arrest in a sample of law enforcement officers

Abstract

PurposeResearch indicates that a link exists between resting heart rate (RHR) and various forms of antisocial, violent and criminal behavior among community and criminal samples. However, the relationship between RHR and engagement in aggressive/violent encounters among law enforcement has not yet been examined. The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between RHR and engagement in violent encounters using prospective longitudinal data on a sample of law enforcement officers in the USA.Design/methodology/approachNegative binomial regression, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox hazard regressions are conducted using a sample of 544 police officers to determine if there a relationship between RHR and engagement in violent encounters by law enforcement, even when controlling for demographics, biological and social covariates.FindingsResults indicate that higher RHR is associated with an increased risk of officers engaging in a violent altercation, as measured by the number of arrests for suspects resisting arrest with violence, even after controlling for all other relevant factors.Originality/valueThis study was the first to examine police officers RHR levels and its associated with violent altercations during arrest using a rigorous statistical methodology.