Fatal Police Shootings Research Articles

Firearm Legislation and Fatal Police Shootings in the United States.

To examine whether stricter firearm legislation is associated with rates of fatal police shootings. We used a cross-sectional, state-level design to evaluate the effect of state-level firearm legislation on rates of fatal police shootings from January 1, 2015, through October 31, 2016. We measured state-level variation in firearm laws with legislative scorecards from the Brady Center, and for fatal police shootings we used The Counted, an online database maintained by The Guardian. State-level firearm legislation was significantly associated with lower rates of fatal police shootings (incidence rate ratio = 0.961; 95% confidence interval = 0.939, 0.984). When we controlled for sociodemographic factors, states in the top quartile of legislative strength had a 51% lower incidence rate than did states in the lowest quartile. Laws aimed at strengthening background checks, promoting safe storage, and reducing gun trafficking were associated with fewer fatal police shootings. Legislative restrictions on firearms are associated with reductions in fatal police shootings. Public Health Implications. Although further research is necessary to determine causality and potential mechanisms, firearm legislation is a potential policy solution for reducing fatal police shootings in the United States.

The prevalence of fatal police shootings by U.S. police, 2015–2016: Patterns and answers from a new data set

PurposePrevious studies on police use of fatal force in the United States are limited to specific cities. This is the first analysis of its type to rely on incident-level national data and to establish state-level base rates for police shooting fatalities. MethodsPublicly available data from the Washington Post were used to model the data, which cover the period from January 2, 2015 to December 29, 2016 (n=1948). ResultsAlthough the data are limited, the patterns are not consistent with the national rhetoric that the police are killing Black people because of their race and that officer-involved shooting fatalities are increasing; fatalities are generally stable across both years and the evidence shows those who are attacking are more likely to be killed. The data help establish state-level base rates for fatal police shootings, which has yet to be done. ConclusionsThe United States government should develop a nationwide use of force database to assist police executives, elected leaders and researchers in understanding police use of force. Future research should rely on the situational context of the shooting and the micro-level factors the courts consider when analyzing the legal aspects of use of force instead of sociodemographic factors.

Killing To Survive: The Walking Dead, Police Slayings and Medieval Malice

Fatal police shootings in the United States have generated much media and academic comment. These shootings fit within the historical common law category of homicides under compulsion and in practice rarely result in prosecutions and even less convictions. This article considers the laws of compulsion through the prism of early common law and slayings for survival in the horror series The Walking Dead. Contemporary accounts of justifiable homicide sustain early common law attempts to balance the need for authorized force to enforce the law against the protection of citizens from arbitrary force. Contemporary law focuses on whether or not the decision to use force was reasonable, but The Walking Dead depicts the narrowness of this question of culpability. The moral difference in slayings is not only whether a law enforcement officer’s decision to use force was reasonable, but whether or not the slayer desired to kill and was acting for a public or personal purpose. The Walking Dead also raises questions about the aspirations of the contemporary justice system. It portrays the medieval conception that the slayer and the community in which they live would be tainted by a homicide – whether excused or felonious. In medieval times, the process of justice was relied upon to remove the taint of a slaying from the community. The Walking Dead represents the thinness of contemporary accounts of compulsion and acts out early common law conceptions of malice.

Is the Number of Citizens Fatally Shot by Police Increasing in the Post-Ferguson Era?

This study examines whether the number of citizens fatally shot by police in the United States has changed significantly since the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Using longitudinal data compiled by killedbypolice.net , we use an interrupted time-series design to test the effect of events in Ferguson on fatal shootings by police. Our analyses reveal that the number of citizens killed by police is temporally unstable, exhibiting random short-term fluctuations that are often misinterpreted as evidence of substantively meaningful trends. However, after testing a variety of model specifications, we find no evidence that the number of fatal police shootings either increased or decreased post-Ferguson. Claims to the contrary are based on weak analyses of short-term trends.

The Influence of Agency Policies on Conducted Energy Device Use and Police Use of Lethal Force

Law enforcement agencies across the United States, partly in response to public outcries over fatalities associated with police use of lethal force, have adopted numerous less lethal technologies, including conducted energy devices (CEDs). Although the device was intended to reduce citizen deaths resulting from police use of force, various human rights groups have linked its usage to increased fatalities. The present study adds to the literature on CEDs by examining (a) the relationship between the restrictiveness of CED-related policies and CED deployments and (b) the relationship between these policies and fatal police shootings. Using data from a nationally representative sample of American law enforcement agencies, this study estimates a series of count regression models to examine the influence of departmental policies on CED usage and fatal shootings by police. Findings illustrate that less restrictive CED policies are associated with increased CED usage and fewer fatal shootings by police. Although design limitations preclude causal arguments, these results suggest that police departments should at least consider adopting more liberal policies regarding the application of this less lethal technology. Future studies on this issue using more rigorous designs are warranted.

Analysis of Fatal Police Shootings

Police use of lethal force occurs rarely and is legally permissible when used appropriately. When police use fatal force, their behavior is highly scrutinized by the legal system and the public. The present study analyzed factors characteristic of 45 coronial investigations of police engagements that culminated in civilian fatalities between 1980 and 2008 in Victoria, Australia. Findings suggest that fatalities commonly occurred at arrest during unplanned police operation, and the majority of incidents were of short duration. The majority of the decedents were armed, acted aggressively, resisted arrest, and escalated the incident. A third of the incidents met the criteria for possible suicide by police. Differences in mental health, incident, and police response characteristics were found between those who met these criteria and those who did not. The findings and their implications for law enforcement, the public, and the mental health system are presented and discussed.

Hitting the Target (or Not): Comparing Characteristics of Fatal, Injurious, and Noninjurious Police Shootings

Despite the well-documented inaccuracy of police officers who use deadly force, research has generally given scant attention to factors that affect shooting accuracy. This article uses bivariate and multivariate analyses—logistic regression and chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID)—to examine characteristics among noninjurious, injurious, and fatal police shootings in Philadelphia from 1987 to 1992 (N = 271). A number of factors emerge as predictors of shooting accuracy including distance, suspect actions, and officer approach and preparedness. Alternatively, a number of seemingly important factors appear unrelated to shooting accuracy including lighting conditions, use of cover, and gun type. The article concludes with a discussion of findings and their implications for police policy and training.

Blue Murder: Press Coverage of Fatal Police Shootings in Victoria

This article explores the way two Melbourne daily newspapers reported the fatal police shooting of Graeme Jensen on 11 October 1988. In particular, the article examines how the newspapers dealt with reporting police suspicions about Graeme Jensen's involvement in criminal activities and the immediate circumstances of the shooting. It argues that information passed to the press by police was designed to present the shooting as the lawful and necessary killing of a dangerous criminal and thus maintain a positive police image. The newspapers assisted this process by uncritically reporting the police version of events and allegations about Graeme Jensen's involvement in crimes even when such information was contradicted by available evidence.

Deadly Force in Law Enforcement

Recent stories appearing in newspapers from cities like Los Angeles, Columbus, Oakland, and Birmingham make it abundantly clear that fatal police shootings have ramifications that extend far beyond the usual concern for fatalities. The justification for taking a human life is presented in historical, philosophical, and legal terms, with particu lar attention to current codes and recent court decisions that simulta neously justify and control police shootings. Various issues of control are further highlighted in discussions of the dilemma inherent in ad ministrative (departmental) regulation of shooting, given the complex decision process leading to a shooting incident. To illustrate the status of empirical knowledge regarding police shooting, the incidence of fatalities among blacks is analyzed. The analysis leads to the conclu sion that the high mortality rate of blacks in police shootings seems to result primarily from community characteristics, such as the high general rate of violence in the inner cities, rather than from a tendency among police to treat blacks and whites differently solely because of race. But, overall, the data available for decision making are slim, and the need for research is great.