Police Use Of Deadly Force Research Articles

Extreme Violence in Organizations: Investigating Police Use of Deadly Force

Extreme Violence in Organizations: Investigating Police Use of Deadly Force

Police Use of Deadly Force in Serbia: The Police Officers’ Perception

The use of deadly force in the Republic of Serbia is regulated by the Law on Police and the Rulebook on Police Powers. Empirical research on the use of deadly force or on refraining from the use of deadly force has never been undertaken in Serbia. Therefore, the research presented in this paper is the first on this important topic. It focuses on the use of firearms, abstinence from the use of firearms, and training in the use of firearms. In order to assess the competence of members of the Police Directorate of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia in the use of firearms (FA), a structured questionnaire developed by using close-ended, multiple-choice questions, and 5-point Likert scale questions (1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly agree) was used in the study. The research was conducted from September to October 2022. The research showed that the use of deadly force by members of the police in Serbia is rare, and that it generally does not differ largely from other European countries.

“Family Trouble”: The 1975 Killing of Denise Hawkins and the Legacy of Deadly Force in the Rochester, NY Police Department

This paper examines the lineages of police violence, family trauma, and police reform through a case study of the Rochester police killing of Denise Hawkins in 1975. Michael Leach, a 22-year-old, white police officer, responded to a “family trouble” call involving a domestic dispute between Hawkins and her husband. When the 18-year-old, 100-pound Black woman emerged from the apartment, she held a kitchen knife. Within five seconds, Leach had shot and killed her, later claiming she endangered his life. Though Hawkins’ name is included in lists of Black women killed by police, little is known about her life and legacy. Using newspapers, police records, and oral history, we examine activists’ attempts to scale the call for justice for Denise Hawkins to the national level, the police department’s defense of Leach as the true victim in the incident, and the city leaders’ compromised efforts to establish a civilian oversight of police. Within the context of Rochester’s robust history of resistance to police violence, we argue that the reform efforts of the late 1970s ultimately failed to redress the police use of deadly force. Furthermore, when Michael Leach killed again in 2012—this time shooting his own son, whom he mistook for an intruder—his defense attorney successfully depicted Leach as the sympathetic figure. In shifting the focus to Denise Hawkins, this work contributes to the Black feminist call to memorialize Black women killed by police and suggests that the policies that protect the officers who use deadly force cause widespread, intergenerational harm to officers and their victims.

Corporate Responses to Racial Unrest Editors’ Introduction

The year 2020 set into motion a perfect storm that would lead to the global panic ignited by the murder of George Floyd in late May of that year. The COVID-19 virus impacted billions of people around the world. With many forced to shelter in place at home, some Americans for the first time (and an exhaustingly innumerable time for others) observed up close the inequality apparent in American policing. On average, Black Americans are 2.9 times more likely to be shot and killed by the police, with very few officers held accountable and prosecuted for these deaths.1 One cannot make sense of this special section on Corporate Responses to Racial Unrest without an examination of this fact and the events leading up to Floyd’s murder. Statistically speaking, however, the year 2020 did not signal anything unusual. In that year, according to Statistica.com, U.S. police killed 1,020 people. Fatalities had been rising steadily from 981 in 2017 to 983 in 2018 and 999 in 2019. 2 It is not immediately apparent how best to interpret these numbers. What justifies police use of deadly force, and in turn, what is an acceptable rate of police killings per year? Or is this even a productive line of thought? The effectiveness of police power in the United States has been a standing debate since the foundations of American government.3 And the nature of inequality marked by race within policing has been demonstrated countless times in the literature.4 Reforming the phenomenon of “policing” in the United States, however, though simple to call for, is complicated to enact—not least owing to the “blue wall of silence” that protects police officers from the consequences of misconduct and the near-term spikes in crime and expenses that the very communities who are most disadvantaged by current policing practices are forced to bear.

경찰 물리력 사용 관련 ｢경찰관직무집행법｣ 개정 필요성에 관한 연구

Police use of force must be strictly guided and regulated by State Legislature because of its serious impact on citizens when erroneously used. Although prior research addressed several loopholes in the Act on the Performance of Duties by Police Officer with respect to police use of deadly force, no amendment has been attempted to revise the Act in accordance with research suggestions. As police use of force takes up a great amount of police recruit tests as well as promotion tests, wrongful interpretation by the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) regarding police use of force regulations can lead to direct infringement of citizens’ constitutional rights. Nevertheless, few research studies in this field have examined potential errors in police recruit and promotion tests conducted by the KNPA. In this regard, the present study reviewed the tests for the last 10 years, finding five problematic questions regarding legal limits of police use of force based on the Act on the Performance of Duties by Police Officer. The current study found that police officers can be misguided by a few sections in the Act regarding police use of deadly force, police use of non-deadly equipment, and chemical agents or irritants. In an effort to minimize the wrongful applications of the Act, the current study reviewed police use of force regulations in state laws of 43 states and Washing DC in the United States. Finally, the present study proposed several research implications with respect to revision of the Act.

Homicide Studies Special Issue on Police Use of Deadly Force

Homicide Studies Special Issue on Police Use of Deadly Force

A Decade of Police Use of Deadly Force Research (2011–2020)

The current study provides findings from a systematic review of the police use of deadly force literature over the most recently completed decade (2011–2020). After an exhaustive search of four scientific databases, 1,190 peer-reviewed articles related to the use of force were identified. Of these, 181 articles specifically examined deadly force, with 86 of them drawing on such force as the dependent variable. We found that the number of articles examining police use of deadly force increased dramatically over the course of the study period and encompassed a wide range of determinants of behavior. Citizen possession of a weapon continues to be the most consistent risk factor of police use of deadly force across decades of policing literature. Additionally, while many studies have attempted to examine the link between race and lethal force, a determination of such a relationship is difficult given both mixed findings and a lack of available national data.

Visual Framing Effects of News Coverage of Police Use of Deadly Force on Intergroup Relationships

The study examines the effects of visual framing in news coverage of law enforcement use of lethal force. In a 2X2 online experiment, participants read one of four versions of a news story that included visual racial cues (images depicting a Black vs. a White victim) and a delinquent/normative frame—depicting the victim wearing attire that signifies either normative or delinquent behavior (regalia vs. a hooded sweatshirt). Both race and delinquency framing influenced the readers’ stereotype endorsement and feelings toward Black Americans. However, judgment of the police officer’s behavior solely depended on the victim’s race. These findings demonstrate the importance of imagery accompanying news reporting on social issues in activating and intensifying White-centered intergroup biases. Implications for responsible journalistic practices are discussed.

Examining the Relevance of Contextual Gun Ownership on Fatal Police Shootings

Police use of deadly force represents a pressing public policy issue with implications for police-community relationships and equitable access to justice. A growing body of literature considering the structural factors influencing officers’ exposure to potential violence suggests that context plays a pivotal role in officer use of deadly force. This study explores how local gun ownership rates impact fatal police shootings for a national sample of large law enforcement agencies. Two-level negative binomial regression models examine the organizational and contextual correlates of fatal police shootings from 2014 to 2018, nesting 758 law enforcement agencies within 408 counties. Results indicate that agencies operating within areas characterized by high rates of violent crime and gun ownership were involved in more fatal police shootings. The findings underscore the importance of contextual cues of danger that police officers respond to during fatal police shootings.

The Interaction of Race and Place: Predictors of Fatal Police Shootings of Black Victims at the Incident, Census Tract, City, and State Levels, 2013–2018

We develop and analyze a multilevel model of fatal police shootings to better understand the interplay between individual-level and contextual-level factors in incidents of police use of deadly force. We use a three-level hierarchical logistic regression model to identify Census tract-, city-, and state-level predictors of fatal police shootings and a four-level model to identify predictors of fatal police shootings of black victims at the incident, Census tract, city, and state levels. We find that higher levels of concentrated disadvantage and interpersonal firearm violence in a Census tract are significant predictors of the likelihood of any fatal police shooting occurring in that tract. We also find that conditional upon a fatal police shooting having occurred in a Census tract, knowing that the victim was unarmed is a significant predictor of the likelihood that the victim was black. Three other predictors of a police shooting victim being black were a higher proportion of black residents in the Census tract, a greater presence of police officers in the city, and a higher level of black-white residential segregation in the state. We conclude that reducing excessive police use of deadly force requires consideration of not only the individual interactions between officers and citizens, but also the quantity of interactions and the characteristics of the place in which these interactions occur. Special consideration must be given to ameliorating the consequences of structural racism, including racial segregation, over-policing of predominantly black neighborhoods, concentrated disadvantage in segregated neighborhoods, and racial inequalities in income and wealth.

On the challenges associated with the study of police use of deadly force in the United States: A response to Schwartz & Jahn

In response to Gabriel Schwartz and Jaquelyn Jahn's descriptive study, Mapping fatal police violence across U.S. metropolitan areas: Overall rates and racial/ethnic inequalities, 2013-2017, I provide three reflections. First, the framing of this issue is vitally important. Second, police-involved fatalities represent a nonrandom sample of all incidents involving police use of deadly force (i.e., physical force that causes or is likely to cause death), and unfortunately, we lack comprehensive data on use of deadly force that does not result in fatalities. Finally, to make sense of who is killed by the police, researchers must also identify who was exposed to the risk of being killed by the police.

On the challenges associated with the study of police use of deadly force in the United States: A response to Schwartz & Jahn.

In response to Gabriel Schwartz and Jaquelyn Jahn’s descriptive study, “Mapping fatal police violence across U.S. metropolitan areas: Overall rates and racial/ethnic inequalities, 2013–2017,” I provide three reflections. First, the framing of this issue is vitally important. Second, police-involved fatalities represent a nonrandom sample of all incidents involving police use of deadly force (i.e., physical force that causes or is likely to cause death), and unfortunately, we lack comprehensive data on use of deadly force that does not result in fatalities. Finally, to make sense of who is killed by the police, researchers must also identify who was exposed to the risk of being killed by the police.

Contingency factors explaining policy adoption: body-worn camera policy across US states

Policy researchers suggest that governments respond to societal problems with public policy. However, empirical evidence is mixed regarding the effect of problem severity on state policy adoption in diverse policy areas. One possible cause of these inconsistencies may be attributable to the fact that states’ other internal characteristics can affect the way problem severity influences state policy adoption. In this paper, I apply Mohr’s (1969) organizational innovation theory to the case of state body-worn camera (BWC) legislation. I examine how the interaction of problem severity with factors representing states’ obstacles against innovation and resources supporting innovation explains states’ adoption of BWC legislation. The results of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis support the importance of considering this interactive effect. Specifically, results suggest that the problem of police use of deadly force against minority residents has led to the adoption of BWC legislation only when strong resistance from police unions is absent, political or socioeconomic resources are present, or both. This study also discusses implications for scholars and policymakers about the important role of police unions in shaping policy related to police practice.

Another capital punishment: the lethal violence of the Brazilian penal system

A letalidade policial no Brasil tem sido um tema amplamente discutido e investigado, não somente por pesquisadores brasileiros, mas inclusive por órgãos e institutos internacionais. O presente trabalho não pretende revelar as determinações causais deste fenômeno, mas demonstrar como tal prática se configura como uma pena de morte oficializada. Para tanto, o artigo é divido em duas partes, ambas sustentadas por análises comparativas de dados secundários. Na primeira, expõem-se números e características da conduta policial, viabilizando uma apreciação sobre a hipótese do uso excessivo da força letal pela polícia brasileira. Na segunda, ao considerar também o papel do Ministério Público e do Poder Judiciário, a "pena de morte oficializada" é comparada tanto com a pena de morte oficial aplicada em outros países, quanto com a aplicação da pena de prisão no Brasil. De tal forma, conclui-se que a letalidade policial massiva não configura apenas uma prática de assassinatos "extrajudiciais", mas, em realidade, representa a aplicação de uma outra pena de morte na realidade brasileira.

Racial Disparities in Police Use of Deadly Force Against Unarmed Individuals Persist After Appropriately Benchmarking Shooting Data on Violent Crime Rates

Cesario et al. argue that benchmarking the relative counts of killings by police on relative crime rates, rather than relative population sizes, generates a measure of racial disparity in the use of lethal force that is unbiased by differential crime rates. Their publication, however, lacked any formal derivation showing that their benchmarking methodology has the statistical properties required to establish such a claim. We use the causal model of lethal force by police conditional on relative crime rates implicit in their analyses and prove that their benchmarking methodology does not, in general, remove the bias introduced by crime rate differences. Instead, it creates strong statistical biases that mask true racial disparities, especially in the killing of unarmed noncriminals by police. Reanalysis of their data using formally derived criminality-correcting benchmarks shows that there is strong and statistically reliable evidence of anti-Black racial disparities in the killing of unarmed Americans by police in 2015–2016.

Five years later, but centuries in the making

Five years later, but centuries in the making

Police Killings as a Problem of Governance

Police kill more than a thousand civilians each year in the United States, a much higher death rate than occurs in any other developed nation. One important cause of the epidemic of civilian deaths is the larger risk that the police who patrol American communities face from civilian assaults with firearms, widely owned and often not visible. Yet many hundreds of killings each year of civilians in the United States are not necessary to protect either police or others from life-threatening attacks. Governments in the United States have failed to collect reliable data, investigate the causes of high death rates, or develop administrative standards to reduce unnecessary killings. The power and expertise vacuums that govern the current ignorance and overkill in the police use of deadly force are the direct, if unintended, consequences of state and federal government failures to assert authority over the many thousands of local police forces that are progeny of the American federal system.

Dispatch Priming and the Police Decision to Use Deadly Force

Police shootings have become one of the most “visible and controversial” aspects of the criminal justice system . Yet, very little empirical effort has been devoted to understanding the underlying systemic vulnerabilities that likely contribute to these tragic outcomes. Using a randomized controlled experiment that incorporated a police firearms simulator and 306 active law enforcement officers, this study examined the effects of dispatch priming on an officer’s decision to use deadly force. The findings suggest that officers rely heavily on dispatched information in making the decision to pull the trigger when confronted with an ambiguously armed subject in a simulated environment. When the dispatched information was erroneous, it contributed to a significant increase in shooting errors. The results contribute to a broader understanding of officer decision-making within the context of police shootings and introduce the theoretical concepts of cognitive heuristics and human error to the research on police use of deadly force.

Police Use of Deadly Force in the Philippines: Comparing Levels and Patterns Before and Since Duterte

This article provides a detailed analysis of pre-Duterte and Duterte police use of deadly force in the Philippines. It first develops a set of indicators that allow for assessing the magnitude of police use of deadly force in “armed encounters”, its relation to the threat environments in which the police operate, and the lethality of such violence. Then, based on a self-developed dataset for the pre-Duterte decade and the ABS-CBN dataset on Duterte period police killings, it establishes the past and current patterns of police use of deadly force. The analysis shows that in the past decade as under Duterte inter-provincial spatial and temporal variation of police use of deadly force has been very high. Differences in the threat environment play only a minor role in explaining this variation. Differences in sub-national units’ reactions to the Duterte campaign mirror those in police use of deadly force during the earlier decade, signaling strong path-dependency. Lethality-levels have been outstanding in both periods despite dramatically differing levels of lethal violence. Clearly, Philippine police tended to shoot-to-kill already before Duterte granted them a carte blanche.

Book Review: The State of American Policing: Psychology, Behavior, Problems, and Solutions

The State of American Policing: Psychology, Behavior, Problems, and Solutions by David J. Thomas observes the past and current roles of police in the United States. The purpose of this book is to closely examine the impact of policing minority members of the community and address recent instances of police use of deadly force. The author, David J. Thomas, provides expert perspective on policing with his background as a veteran police officer and criminal justice professor at Florida Gulf Coast University.