Police Use of Force Escalation and De-escalation: The Use of Systematic Social Observation With Video Footage

Abstract

As police agencies continue to incorporate body-worn cameras, it becomes increasingly important for researchers and practitioners to explore how to best use these data to better understand patterns of suspect and police behavior. Thus, drawing on a joint project between the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and Arizona State University, we expand on prior research demonstrating how social systematic observation (SSO) can be used with video footage to methodically detail the evolving nature of police-suspect encounters. We then illustrate how the data could be evaluated within the framework of escalation and de-escalation using an expanded version of the Resistance Force Comparative Scale (RFCS) first developed and employed in 2001. Finally, we assess the merits and challenges of using video footage to account for suspect and police behaviors in relation to escalation and de-escalation.

Situational factors and police use of force across micro-time intervals: A video systematic social observation and panel regression analysis

“…BWCs themselves present certain inherent limitations for research, such as capturing incomplete information on the facial expressions and non-verbal cues emitted by police officers, and being obstructed when officers are in close proximity to civilians, such as when applying handcuffs or conducting searches (Schafer et al, 2022;Terrill and Zimmerman, 2021). Although having multiple videos per event provides different viewpoints of each police-civilian encounter, which helped navigate obstructions and allow for direct observation of officers on-scene, the current study nonetheless suffers from these shortcomings.…”

“…de-escalation), a topic that some scholars have begun to leverage BWC footage to explore (see e.g. Schafer et al, 2021;Terrill and Zimmerman, 2021). The study takes an important step forward by bridging past data limitations to better understand the situational factors driving police use of force decision-making (Sherman, 2018).…”

“…A similar type of classification has been used in other studies applying variations of the force factor (see e.g. Bazley et al, 2007;Terrill, 2001Terrill, , 2005Terrill and Zimmerman, 2021;Tillyer, 2022;Wolf et al, 2009) as well as the POPN studies that used alternative operationalizations of the resistance-force relationship (Terrill, 2003;Terrill and Mastrofski, 2002). The higher-end resistance arguably makes use of force situationally necessary, which reflects theoretical perspectives that consider resistance as a direct cause of force.…”

“…Limitations of common data sources have led researchers to treat use of force as a unilateral event rather than as a process of a complex system emerging from the collective behavior of involved parties (Bennell et al, 2021). The analysis of BWC footage allows police-civilian encounters to be modeled as fluid processes, emphasizing the sequence of police-civilian interactions scholars consider paramount (Alpert and Dunham, 2004;Terrill and Zimmerman, 2021;TIllyer, 2022).…”

Situational factors and police use of force across micro‐time intervals: A video systematic social observation and panel regression analysis

“…Limitations of common data sources have led researchers to treat use of force as a unilateral event rather than as a process of a complex system emerging from the collective behavior of involved parties (Bennell et al., 2021). The analysis of BWC footage allows police–civilian encounters to be modeled as fluid processes, emphasizing the sequence of police–civilian interactions scholars consider paramount (Alpert & Dunham, 2004; Terrill & Zimmerman, 2021; Tillyer, 2022).…”