Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests that law enforcement organizational factors contribute to higher incidence and racial disparities in police killings. To determine whether agency policies contribute to race-specific civilian fatalities, this exploratory study compared fatality rates among agencies with and without selected policies expected to reduce killings. A cross-section of 1085 fatalities in the 2015–2016 The Counted public-use database were matched to 481 agencies in the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) database. Negative binomial regression estimated incidence rate ratios (IRR) adjusted for agency type, number of officers, percent female personnel, median income, percent with a bachelor’s degree, violent crime rate, and population size, with inference using robust standard errors. Agencies with greater proportions of full-time personnel (range 43–100%) had lower rates of all (IRR = 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77–0.93) and non-White civilian killings (IRR = 0.85; CI = 0.73–0.99). Mission statements predicted lower rates of all (IRR = 0.70; CI = 0.58–0.84) and White killings (IRR = 0.60; CI = 0.40–0.90). Community evaluation and more types of personnel incentives predicted lower rates of White (IRR = 0.82; CI = 0.68–0.99) and non-White killings (IRR = 0.94; CI = 0.89–1.00), respectively. Increasing video use predicted higher rates of White killings (IRR = 1.13; CI = 1.01–1.28). No policies were significantly associated with Black civilian killings. Law enforcement policies that help reduce police killings may vary across racial groups with the least benefit for Black civilians. Impact evaluations and meta-analyses of initiatives aimed to mitigate fatalities should be explored, particularly policies to address anti-Black bias. A national registry tracking all police killings and agency policies is urgently needed to inform law enforcement policies aimed to mitigate civilian fatalities.
Highlights
Public concern over recent police killings, among Black civilians, has inspired epidemiologic investigations to identify key drivers of racial disparities in police use of deadly force [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13], or fatal legal intervention
Contrary to our hypothesis, (1) associations were stronger for agencies involved in White killings, (2) one policy was harmful for White rates, (3) policies intended to combat avoidable fatalities in racially minoritized communities were statistically null for Black and non-White rates but not White rates, and (4), most notably, no policies were significantly associated with a change in Black killing rates
Our findings suggest that White civilians may benefit more from agency policies that help mitigate avoidable police killings than civilians of color
Summary
Public concern over recent police killings (i.e., police-caused deaths [1]), among Black civilians, has inspired epidemiologic investigations to identify key drivers of racial disparities in police use of deadly force [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13], or fatal legal intervention. Organizational policies—concise regulations, procedures, and best practices that set the ethical and moral standard of operations and employee conduct within law enforcement agencies—may influence the incidence of police killings yet has received less attention in the epidemiologic literature
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
