Race, Crime, and the Micro‐Ecology of Deadly Force

Abstract

Research Summary Limitations in data and research on the use of firearms by police officers in the United States preclude sound understanding of the determinants of deadly force in police work. The current study addresses these limitations with detailed case attributes and a microspatial analysis of police shootings in St. Louis, MO, between 2003 and 2012. The results indicate that neither the racial composition of neighborhoods nor their level of economic disadvantage directly increase the frequency of police shootings, whereas levels of violent crime do—but only to a point. Police shootings are less frequent in areas with the highest levels of criminal violence than in those with midlevels of violence. We offer a provisional interpretation of these results and call for replications in other settings. Policy Implications Nationwide replications of the current research will require the establishment of a national database of police shootings. Informative assessments of a single agency's policies and practices require comparative information from other agencies. We recommend specific data elements to be included in such an information system that would shed further empirical light on the interconnections among race, crime, and police use of deadly force. The database also would contribute to the development of evidence‐based policies and procedures on deadly force—an urgent public priority in light of recent controversial police shootings across the United States.

Gradual escalation of use-of-force reduces police officer injury

“…Using a sample of officer-involved shootings in the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Klinger et al found that neighbourhood crime characteristics are stronger correlates of police shooting incidents than race or socioeconomic factors 19. Taylor and Woods examined conducted energy device (Taser) deployment and officer/suspect injury rates across 13 police departments 15.…”

Fostering Innovation in U.S. Law Enforcement: Identifying High-Priority Technology and Other Needs for Improving Law Enforcement Operations and Outcomes

“…259-262), reporting that information for a standardized national collection in a timely fashion may create new challenges (Stephenson, 2011(Stephenson, , p. 1430. The research literature on use-of-force incidents lacks generalizability because most studies can rely only on a single agency (Klinger et al, 2015;Lee, Vaughn, and Lim, 2014) or limited pool of incidents (Nix et al, 2017;Hine et al, 2016). But, for the profession as a whole, the new national system should help answer fundamental questions about police use-of-force trends.…”

Toward a National Database of Officer‐Involved Shootings

“…Multiple studies of OIS have been conducted using single or limited sites, and Klinger et al. () make excellent arguments to move beyond the worm's eye view to the establishment of a bird's eye view of OIS. They note, “If we are to augment knowledge regarding police use of deadly force, the following information, at a minimum, is needed: (a) the number of incidents in which police officers discharge firearms at citizens; (b) the demographic characteristics of the officers and citizens involved in each incident; (c) the agency/agencies employing the involved officers and location of each incident; (d) the particular weapon(s) used by police officers and citizens; and (e) the injuries, if any, suffered by officers and citizens.” It is important to emphasize the word “minimum.” Maybe it is a researcher's delusion that agencies will collect more than the minimum or required amount of data.…”

“…The plea to develop a national database on police use of (deadly) force or officer‐involved shootings (OIS) is not new, and Klinger, Rosenfeld, Isom, and Deckard (, this issue) do a good job of tracing the history of the requests and responses of practitioners, politicians, and researchers to the lack of information. Following their discussion of the prior attempts to put a national database together, they remark that, “In sum, the available data and prior research do not permit sound assessments of the social determinants of the use of deadly force by the police, racial disparities in police shootings, or the degree to which racial disparities may reflect biased or discriminatory police behavior.…”

“…Klinger et al. () are correct to place a high level of importance on their data and analysis. However, as comprehensive as it is, their study does not introduce the phases of the encounter (Binder and Scharf, ), tactical decisions, or suspect actions into the model.…”