Validating the National Violent Death Reporting System as a Source of Data on Fatal Shootings of Civilians by Law Enforcement Officers

Conner, Andrew; Azrael, Deborah; Lyons, Vivian H.; Barber, Catherine; Miller, Matthew J.

doi:10.2105/ajph.2018.304904

Cited by 48 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Such data will permit future research to better examine the situational, organizational (e.g., stricter departmental policies regarding the sanctity of human life and using firearms as an absolute last resort) [15][30], and ecological factors associated not only with police use of deadly force but also mortality. [31] One of the most basic questions is whether, as a group, the victims of nonfatal injurious police shootings resemble victims of fatal police shootings in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, age, and so on. To answer this question, our study leveraged data from four states for which several years of data on fatal and nonfatal injurious police shootings are publicly available.…”

Section: Public Health Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with police shooting mortality: A focus on race and a plea for more comprehensive data

Nix

Shjarback

2021

Preprint

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Objectives. To quantify nonfatal injurious police shootings of people and examine the factors associated with victim mortality. Methods. We gathered victim-level data on fatal and nonfatal injurious police shootings from four states that have such information publicly available: Florida (2009-14), Colorado (2010-19), Texas (2015-19), and California (2016. For each state, we examined bivariate associations between mortality and race/ethnicity, gender, age, weapon, and access to trauma care. We also estimated logistic regression models predicting victim mortality in each state. Results.Forty-five percent of these police shooting victims (N=1,322) did not die. Black-white disparities were more pronounced in nonfatal injurious police shootings than in fatal police shootings. Overall, Black victims were less likely than white victims to die from their wound(s). Younger victims were less likely to die from their wound(s), as well as those who were unarmed. Conclusions. Racial and age disparities in police shootings are likely more pronounced than previous estimates suggest. Policy Implications.Other states should strongly consider compiling data like that which is currently being gathered in California. Absent data on nonfatal injurious police shootings -which account for a large share of deadly force incidents -researchers and analysts must be cautious about comparing and/or ranking jurisdictions in terms of their police-involved fatality rates.

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Section: Public Health Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with police shooting mortality: A focus on race and a plea for more comprehensive data

Nix

Shjarback

2021

Preprint

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“…The database is promptly maintained and updated by The Guardian reporters and interactive journalists by collecting tips from the public, crowdsourcing, and data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Like many crowdsourced databases of police killings [ 71 , 72 ], The Guardian’s database has been shown to have greater validity and reliability than government databases due to government agencies underreporting or misclassifying police-involved deaths [ 71 , 73 , 74 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

US law enforcement policy predictors of race-specific police fatalities during 2015–16

et al. 2021

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Mounting evidence suggests that law enforcement organizational factors contribute to higher incidence and racial disparities in police killings. To determine whether agency policies contribute to race-specific civilian fatalities, this exploratory study compared fatality rates among agencies with and without selected policies expected to reduce killings. A cross-section of 1085 fatalities in the 2015–2016 The Counted public-use database were matched to 481 agencies in the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) database. Negative binomial regression estimated incidence rate ratios (IRR) adjusted for agency type, number of officers, percent female personnel, median income, percent with a bachelor’s degree, violent crime rate, and population size, with inference using robust standard errors. Agencies with greater proportions of full-time personnel (range 43–100%) had lower rates of all (IRR = 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77–0.93) and non-White civilian killings (IRR = 0.85; CI = 0.73–0.99). Mission statements predicted lower rates of all (IRR = 0.70; CI = 0.58–0.84) and White killings (IRR = 0.60; CI = 0.40–0.90). Community evaluation and more types of personnel incentives predicted lower rates of White (IRR = 0.82; CI = 0.68–0.99) and non-White killings (IRR = 0.94; CI = 0.89–1.00), respectively. Increasing video use predicted higher rates of White killings (IRR = 1.13; CI = 1.01–1.28). No policies were significantly associated with Black civilian killings. Law enforcement policies that help reduce police killings may vary across racial groups with the least benefit for Black civilians. Impact evaluations and meta-analyses of initiatives aimed to mitigate fatalities should be explored, particularly policies to address anti-Black bias. A national registry tracking all police killings and agency policies is urgently needed to inform law enforcement policies aimed to mitigate civilian fatalities.

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“…We use the term ‘injuries’ to include both nonfatal injuries and deaths. GVA data have been used for research on legal intervention shootings, 17 firearm homicides, 18 mass shootings, 19,20 and community violence 21 and have performed well relative to other sources. 17,19…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…GVA data have been used for research on legal intervention shootings, 17 firearm homicides, 18 mass shootings, 19,20 and community violence 21 and have performed well relative to other sources. 17,19 We developed a directed acyclic graph to identify a minimum set of time-varying covariates needed to control for confounding ( Supplementary Figure 1). Covariates include monthly COVID-19 cases and deaths per population, state stay-at-home orders, average monthly movement (a measure of adherence to social distancing recommendations), and average monthly temperature and precipitation.…”

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Firearm Purchasing and Firearm Violence in the First Months of the Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States

Schleimer

McCort

Pear

et al. 2020

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Importance. Firearm violence is a significant public health and safety problem in the United States. A surge in firearm purchases following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic may increase rates of firearm violence. Objective. To estimate the association between changes in firearm purchasing and interpersonal firearm violence during the coronavirus pandemic. Design. Cross-sectional time series study. We estimate the difference between observed rates of firearm purchases and those predicted by seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models. Using negative binomial models, we then estimate the association between excess firearm purchases and rates of interpersonal firearm violence within states, controlling for confounders. Setting. The 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. Hawaii and Alaska are excluded due to missing or incomplete data. Exposure. The difference between observed and expected rates of firearm purchases in March through May 2020, approximated by National Instant Criminal Background Check System records. Main Outcome and Measure. Fatal and nonfatal injuries from interpersonal firearm violence, recorded in the Gun Violence Archive. Results. We estimate that there were 2.1 million excess firearm purchases from March through May 2020--a 64.3% increase over expected volume, and an increase of 644.4 excess purchases per 100,000 population. We estimate a relative rate of death and injury from firearm violence of 1.015 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.005 to 1.025) for every 100 excess purchases per 100,000, in models that incorporate variation in purchasing across states and control for effects of the pandemic common to all states. This reflects an increase of 776 fatal and nonfatal injuries (95% CI: 216 to 1,335) over the number expected had no increase in purchasing occurred. Conclusions and Relevance. We find a significant increase in firearm violence in the United States associated with the coronavirus pandemic-related surge in firearm purchasing. Our findings are consistent with existing research. Firearm violence prevention strategies may be particularly important during the pandemic.

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Validating the National Violent Death Reporting System as a Source of Data on Fatal Shootings of Civilians by Law Enforcement Officers

Cited by 48 publications

References 26 publications

Factors associated with police shooting mortality: A focus on race and a plea for more comprehensive data

Factors associated with police shooting mortality: A focus on race and a plea for more comprehensive data

US law enforcement policy predictors of race-specific police fatalities during 2015–16

Firearm Purchasing and Firearm Violence in the First Months of the Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States

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