Use Of Lethal Force Research Articles

‘It’s not OK to shoot and kill Americans’: families’ perceptions of police use of lethal force in the United States

ABSTRACT This article examines the police use of lethal force against American citizens from the perspective of families affected by these deaths. It is based on qualitative research undertaken with family members who lost loved ones after police contact in the United States. The article examines how organizational practices and cultures are perceived to enable the use of lethal force, and how multiple narratives are employed to legitimize its use in the aftermath of a citizen’s death. It considers how procedural justice might provide a framework that enables an understanding of how these deaths are perceived by sections of US society. Key findings are that families believe police uses lethal force with relative impunity due to an aggressive mindset and a lack of effective regulation. The article further finds that symbolic legitimation strategies reward officers for using lethal force, and denigrate the deceased enabling these deaths to be classified as justified.

Black Lives Matter: Banning Police Lynchings

In the United States, police officers are granted a license to use lethal force and are subsequently exonerated from personal criminal liability for fatal killings, particularly when the victim is an African American. This Article advances the normative claim that the Court’s death penalty jurisprudence, including the “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” Clause of the Eighth Amendment, protects the victims of police homicides. Further, it contends that the police use of lethal force against African Americans constitutes “lynching”—a State-sponsored act of terror that supports systemic racism. Finally, it posits that the Constitution mandates that the police use of lethal force be abolished—a transformative solution to save Black lives and to achieve equal justice.

Five Years after Ferguson: Reflecting on Police Reform and What’s Ahead

Policing in the United States is not the same profession it was before Michael Brown’s death on a street in Ferguson, Missouri, five years ago. Police use of lethal force has become central to the debate triggered by Ferguson. In this article, I review steps taken to implement policing reforms at local, state, and federal levels; note obstacles to reform; and speculate about which proposals advanced by authors in this volume might be implemented by policy-makers at different levels of government. I conclude by suggesting four areas where attention is needed if reform measures are going to be successfully institutionalized, and I comment on current bipartisan attention in Washington to criminal justice that offers the potential for federal action.

Employing Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems

The ethics of warfare and military leadership must pay attention to the rapidly increasing use of artificial intelligence and machines. Who is responsible for the decisions made by a machine? Do machines make decisions? May they make them? These issues are of particular interest in the context of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS). Are they autonomous or just automated? Do they violate the international humanitarian law which requires that humans must always be responsible for the use of lethal force and for the assessment that civilian casualties are proportionate to the military goals? The article analyses relevant documents, opinions, government positions, and commentaries using the methods of applied ethics. The main conceptual finding is that the definition of autonomy depends on what the one presenting it seeks to support. Those who want to use lethal autonomous weapon systems call them by another name, say, automated instead of autonomous. They impose standards on autonomy that machines do not meet, such as moral agency. Those who wish to ban the use of lethal autonomous weapon systems define them much less broadly and do not require them to do much more than to be a self-standing part of the causal chain.The article’s argument is that the question of responsibility is most naturally perceived by abandoning the most controversial philosophical considerations and simply stating that an individual or a group of people is always responsible for the creation of the equipment they produce and use. This does not mean that those who press the button, or their immediate superiors, are to blame. They are doing their jobs in a system. The ones responsible can probably be found in higher military leadership, in political decision-makers who dictate their goals, and, at least in democracies, in the citizens who have chosen their political decision-makers.

Protecting the right to life in protracted conflicts: The existence and dignity dimensions of General Comment 36

AbstractWith a focus on situations of protracted conflict, this article explores the new horizons offered by the recent explanation by the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the right to life in its General Comment 36. The freshly formulated contours of this right not only present normative clarity but are also valuable for conflict management and resolution. Considering the articulation by the Human Rights Committee, we can now see two dimensions of this right: existence and dignity. Although the existence dimension is not new, one now finds additional insights concerning the legality, transparency and accountability of the use of lethal force that have particular relevance to armed conflict. The new dignity dimension has practical implications for the conditions of life in protracted conflicts, taking us beyond norms to the policy spheres of humanitarian action and development. Tracing the origins of the term “protracted conflict” to the late Lebanese scholar Edward Azar, the article also introduces the reader to some of his work and thinking.

Integrating the Literature on Police Use of Deadly Force and Police Lethal Victimization: How Does Place Impact Fatal Police–Citizen Encounters?

Use of lethal force by police officers has incited riots, inspired social movements, and engendered socio-political debate. Police officers also assume a high level of risk during police–citizen encounters. Yet, existing studies tend to center on these two phenomena independently. Additionally, the under-utilization of multilevel research in these areas of inquiry has hampered attempts to empirically disentangle the individual, agency, and contextual correlates of fatal police–citizen encounters. This study integrates the predominantly distinct research bases on these phenomena to examine the contexts in which police use lethal force, relative to the contexts in which officers are killed in the line of duty. Data were compiled on 6416 citizen fatalities and 709 officer fatalities distributed across 1735 agencies and 1506 U.S. places from 2000 to 2016. A series of three-level logistic regression models examined the civilian and officer characteristics, organizational factors, and contextual features that impacted the odds of citizen fatalities by the police relative to police lethal victimization. Findings indicated that structural disadvantage increased the odds of police lethal victimization relative to citizen fatalities by the police. Moreover, this contextual effect was, in part, a product of increased firearm usage by citizens who killed police in more disadvantaged areas. A more complete understanding of fatal police–citizen encounters requires considering police use of lethal force and police lethal victimization concurrently in their broader social contexts.

THE PREVENTIVE DIMENSION OF THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE UNDER THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

The aim of this article is pointing out to the process of redefining the nature, subject and structure of the obligations of States Parties to the European Convention on Human Rights in the field of the right to life (Article 2 of the Convention). The main author of the above redefinition is the European Court of Human Rights, hence it takes place during the interpretation and application of Art. 2 the Convention. As a result, in addition to primary negative obligations, the positive obligations are imposed on States. Strasbourg case law identifies a variety of positive measures that States are obliged to undertake in order to fulfill these positive obligations, including appropriate preventive measures. They are to prevent the materialisation of risks to the right to life, both in the case of threats from private individuals, as well as during the use of lethal force by State officials. The Court has not settled the precise catalog of these measures and the conditions for taking them. They are formulated case by case and are constantly being expanded. It can therefore be said that they are still in statu nascendi.

The Effect of Police Use of Lethal Force on Murder Levels in American Cities Before and After Ferguson

We assess the effects of police use of lethal force on subsequent murders by victim race and armed status before and after the August 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. We regress monthly murder levels on instances of police use of lethal force by race and armed status controlling for fixed effects, population, unemployment, and murders in the prior month using city-level data for 93 cities from 2013 to 2015. For 2013–2015, we find that a police lethal force incident predicts a 1.8% increase in murders 2 months following the incident. However, prior to Ferguson, a police lethal force incident increases murders by 4.5% (after 2 months) and we are unable to find any evidence of differential responses to police use of lethal force based on victim race. However, we find evidence of differential responses to police use of lethal force based on victim armed status. Post-Ferguson, police use of lethal force is associated with significant differential responses based on victim race. In addition, we see a shift in the aggregate-level response to police use of lethal force. Post-Ferguson, a police lethal force incident decreases the murder level by 3.8% 3 months following the incident. In addition, lethal force incident involving a non-black victim decreases the number of murders by 4.3% while an incident involving a black victim increases the number of murders by 2.1% (after a 2-month lag). Changes in policing following the events of Ferguson had a generally positive but uneven effect.

Complex Motor Learning and Police Training: Applied, Cognitive, and Clinical Perspectives.

The practices surrounding police training of complex motor skills, including the use of force, varies greatly around the world, and even over the course of an officer’s career. As the nature of policing changes with society and the advancement of science and technology, so should the training practices that officers undertake at both central (i.e., police academy basic recruit training) and local (i.e., individual agency or precinct) levels. The following review is intended to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and applied practice to inform best practices for training complex motor skills that are unique and critical to law enforcement, including the use of lethal force. We begin by providing a basic understanding of the fundamental cognitive processes underlying motor learning, from novel skill acquisition to complex behaviors including situational awareness, and decision-making that precede and inform action. Motor learning, memory, and perception are then discussed within the context of occupationally relevant stress, with a review of evidence-based training practices that promote officer performance and physiological responses to stress during high-stakes encounters. A lack of applied research identifying the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying motor learning in police is inferred from a review of evidence from various clinical populations suffering from disorders of cognitive and motor systems, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and stroke. We conclude this review by identifying practical, organizational, and systemic challenges to implementing evidence-based practices in policing and provide recommendations for best practices that will promote training effectiveness and occupational safety of end-users (i.e., police trainers and officers).

Construction of indicators on the use of lethal force in Venezuela

Construction of indicators on the use of lethal force in Venezuela

The consequentialist reasoning of the security State and the contemporary interpretation of Article 2 by the European Court of Human Rights: eroding the lethal force principles in policing operations

ABSTRACTThe main premise of this article is an examination of the right to life during policing operations. The article will focus on the international and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) standards. One of the Courts seminal cases was that of McCann v United Kingdom. This case set down strict standards on the right to life during policing operations. The article will show that these strict standards have been eroded with the evolution of terrorism in Europe. It will be shown that the ECtHR has facilitated this erosion by applying a consequentialist reasoning to its most recent judgments. It will also be advanced that these measures, adopted to tackle contemporary terrorism, have blurred the lines between policing and the military and this could potentially be exacerbated by the European Union’s project to harmonise policing. The article will posit that the international standards on the right to life provide a framework which is applicable to any situation where there is the potential for the use of lethal force by the police. These standards do not require special measures which place the right to life as ancillary to the objectives of the State.

Humanising the Law of Targeting in Light of a Child Soldier’s Right to Life

Contemporary conflicts are epitomised by warfare never seen during the codification of the laws of war during the 19th and 20th centuries. In present times, children are increasingly being recruited and used as soldiers. Aside from the prohibition against their recruitment and use, and the prosecution of those who violate these prohibitions, more is needed to protect their right to life. Pursuant to the law of targeting, child soldiers may be subject to the use of lethal force. It has been queried whether there is a moral basis to apply different targeting rules to spare their lives. This paper will suggest that it may be in the interests of humanity for a new approach to be taken. In particular, this paper will consider whether international human rights law may humanise the law of targeting to restrict the degree of force that would ordinarily apply. Humanisation may provide a remedy to the moral dilemma posed.

The Venezuela Crisis 2019: Use of Lethal Force and Action Short of Force

These comments briefly address two international legal issues of concern in the Venezuela crisis: the legality of any party resorting to lethal force or taking action short of lethal force. Turmoil in Venezuela moved to a new, more dangerous level, when in January 2019 the leader of the parliament, Juan Guaidó, claimed to be the legitimate president in place of the incumbent, Nicolás Maduro. A variety of parties have taken and have threatened to take action in the wake of Guaidó’s claim. The news media has reported on three categories of action short of lethal force, including economic sanctions, military assistance, and humanitarian assistance. In the second category, lethal force, two examples are most relevant, the use of force against protesters and others not organized to use armed force, and the use of force by, on behalf of, and against groups that are organized to fight.

Violence Exposure and Support for State Use of Force in a Non-Democracy

AbstractHow do individuals respond to internal security threats in non-democracies? Does violence make individuals more supportive of a strong state? Are the effects of violence on individual attitudes uniform, or are they heterogeneous with respect to the identity of the perpetrators? We field an online survey experiment on a national sample of Chinese citizens, in which respondents were randomly selected to view reports on violent acts in China. We show that exposure to violence makes individuals more supportive of a strong state: respondents randomly exposed to violence are more likely to approve police use of lethal force, and this effect is particularly strong among the less wealthy Han Chinese. We also find suggestive evidence that individuals exhibit intergroup biases in their reaction to violence.

Armed On-board Protection of Italian Ships: From an Apparent Hybrid Model to a Regulated Rise of Private Contractors

The sharp increase of piracy attacks in the last two decades was followed by a parallel increase of demand in the maritime security sector. A plenty of flag States around the world have started to authorize the deployment of armed security guards, either military or private, aboard commercial ships. In 2011, Italy also introduced the possibility of embarking armed security services to protect Italian flagged ships sailing in dangerous international waters. Like the other flag States’ legal systems, the newly adopted Italian legislation aims to preserve the domestic shipping industry which was particularly disrupted by modern-day pirates. On the other hand, the doubling of approaches of the Italian legal and regulatory framework, initially privileging military personnel and then opting for the private solution, took the author to investigate the main relevant features of the Italian model of regulation and to analyze the recent developments of the domestic legal practice on counterpiracy armed security services, focusing on the role that customary and treaty obligations of international law played for the realization at national level of on-board armed protection of Italian ships. The use of lethal force at sea and the relationship between the shipmaster and the security guards will receive specific attention in this article.

Recruit Screening, Representation, and the Moral Hazard Problem in Policing

Calls for more representative police forces, made regularly over the past four decades, rest in part on the assumption that hiring minority officers will help departments overcome adverse selection and moral hazard problems that lead to overly aggressive and discriminatory policing. However, the empirical evidence regarding the relationship between force representativeness and improved policing outcomes has been remarkably mixed. This article explores the effectiveness of another method that departments can use to overcome those same problems, as well as the degree to which those methods may interact with the demographic composition of police departments. Results from a difference-in-differences analysis of more than 500 police departments in 2002 and 2008 suggest that screening recruits for conflict management skills reduces racial disproportion in discretionary arrests, particularly in departments that are more representative of the communities they serve. The analyses also suggest that conflict management screening, when combined with recruit screening for sensitivity to diverse cultures, reduces the lethal use of force by police.

Rethinking the Moral Responsibilities Pertaining to the Use of Lethal Force by Police and Combatants

Seumas Miller’s book Shooting to Kill: The Ethics of Police and Military Use of Lethal Force concerns the moral rules applicable to the use of lethal force over three domains: individuals (personal...

Regional differences in the impact of the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida

In October 2005, Florida relaxed restrictions on the use of lethal force in self-defense with the Florida stand your ground law (SYG). We examined whether and how the impact of the Florida SYG varied based on the demographic and economic conditions of each of its counties. Using data from the Florida Universal Crime Reports on homicides and firearm homicides from 1999 to 2014, we found that the impact differed significantly by county urbanization, unemployment, and pre-law homicide rates. The largest increases in homicide and firearm homicide occurred in proportionally safer, richer, and less ethnically diverse suburban counties. These findings reveal that the law may have had the opposite effect than intended, and more strongly impacted counties considered safe, suburban and economically successful.

Is intelligence associated with mortality from lethal force by law enforcement?

Intelligence (IQ) has emerged as an important determinant of many social and health outcomes, and is associated with criminal behavior. This ecological study tested whether IQ was associated with the use of lethal force by law enforcement by examining estimates of state IQ and mortality from lethal force in 50 U.S. states. These data were obtained from a variety of sources freely available on the Internet, including information about mortality from lethal force from a database compiled by a news website, The Guardian. State IQ was negatively correlated with the rate of people killed by law enforcement (r = −0.50, p < .01). This association persisted even after adjusting for numerous demographic and social characteristics; each point increase in state IQ was associated with a 6% reduction in the rate ratio of deaths from lethal force (IRR = 0.94 [95% CI = 0.90, 0.98]). States with higher IQs may have safer communities, and law enforcement officers may act less confrontationally or hostilely during police-suspect encounters in these areas. However, this hypothesis needs to be investigated in future studies using smaller aggregate units for IQ and include more information about neighborhood, law enforcement, and suspect characteristics.

Risk of Police-Involved Death by Race/Ethnicity and Place, United States, 2012-2018.

To estimate the risk of mortality from police homicide by race/ethnicity and place in the United States. We used novel data on police-involved fatalities and Bayesian models to estimate mortality risk for Black, Latino, and White men for all US counties by Census division and metropolitan area type. Police kill, on average, 2.8 men per day. Police were responsible for about 8% of all homicides with adult male victims between 2012 and 2018. Black men's mortality risk is between 1.9 and 2.4 deaths per 100 000 per year, Latino risk is between 0.8 and 1.2, and White risk is between 0.6 and 0.7. Police homicide risk is higher than suggested by official data. Black and Latino men are at higher risk for death than are White men, and these disparities vary markedly across place. Public Health Implications. Homicide reduction efforts should consider interventions to reduce the use of lethal force by police. Efforts to address unequal police violence should target places with high mortality risk.