Crime & Consequences

Category: Use of Force

FBI finally releases data from the National Use-of-Force Data Collection

by · Jun 9, 2022 10:04 am

On May 31, 2022, the FBI released national-level statistics on police use of force for the first time ever. These data were derived from the National Use-of-Force Data Collection, which is the first national-level dataset to collect data on police use of force. Law enforcement agencies are not required to submit their data though, so participation rates have been a consistent issue that has prevented the release of information up until this point. The FBI has been reporting on participation rates, but because participation rates have been below the required 60% threshold (up until now), it was unclear whether details on actual use-of-force data would ever be released. Relatedly, there was speculation that lack of participation might even cause the database to shut down.

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New study examines the impacts of the pandemic and George Floyd’s death on crime and policing

by · Apr 19, 2022 10:38 am

After the killing of George Floyd in 2020, protests erupted throughout many cities and calls for defunding the police became the new norm. This also occurred at the same time as the pandemic, which police responded to in myriad ways. A new study by researchers at Arizona State University examined the independent impacts of George Floyd’s death and the pandemic on crime and police work. Overall, the study found that both events had independent impacts on some measures of crime and police activity. The pandemic seemed to have a greater impact on crime while George Floyd’s death seemed to have a greater impact on police proactivity. The impacts on police work were massive and are consistent with the de-policing hypothesis.

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New public database on officer-involved fatalities

by · Apr 7, 2022 3:14 pm

At present, the government does not mandate the reporting of lethal force by police departments, and there is no official number of the number of people killed by police annually. The National Use-of-Force Data Collection is the first national-level attempt to offer big-picture insights on police use of force but it is still in its infancy, and participation rates have been so low that the database may shut down.

But thanks to researchers at University of Southern California (USC) Dornsife, a new open-source database on police-involved fatalities has emerged and preliminary findings have recently been released.

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Fatal police shootings and race

by · Mar 17, 2022 8:00 am

The claim that police lethal force is disproportionately used against blacks has gained a lot of attention in recent years. Some data show the strength of this perception, though there is also data questioning this assertion. Unfortunately, the government does not mandate the reporting of lethal force by police departments, so it has been difficult to learn more about the frequency and context of these incidents. Nonetheless, the narrative that blacks are disproportionately killed by the police has inspired rapid policy changes.

Some databases have attempted to collate information on police use of lethal force, but their numbers are not always consistent and are subject to their own limitations. Other researchers have examined the relationship between race and police lethal force at a more detailed level, where they are able to see whether other case characteristics influence the relationship. A recent report by Robert VerBruggen of the Manhattan Institute explains several of the approaches used to examine racial bias in fatal police shootings, which are discussed below.

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Real police reform requires an increase in officers

by · Jan 3, 2022 4:00 pm

As more and more cities call for defunding the police, large police departments continue to face worsening staff shortages. Defunding the police is meant to be a reform effort, but paradoxically, in many ways it may limit police from doing their jobs well. A recent article in Manhattan Institute’s City Journal describes alternative options for police reform other than defunding, citing community policing, foot patrols, or defensive tactics training — but all of these take time, staff, and money. For example, conflict resolution may be an effective method for resolving problems without resorting to arrest, but it takes longer.

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Police use of force standards: Policymaking targets

by · Dec 27, 2021 3:47 pm

Despite police use of force being a low-occurring event, well-publicized incidents can evoke widespread concern among community members and policymakers alike. Despite this, the police are still a primary agent of coercive force, and typically when police are called there is a strong possibility that coercive force may be necessary. From a legal perspective, the most important consideration in police use of force is the U.S. Supreme Court case Graham v. Connor, which provided a professional and legal understanding of reasonableness viewed as an objective evaluation of the totality of prevailing circumstances at that time. The formulation of the reasonableness standard has been controversial on several fronts, though, mostly because there is ambiguity of what a “reasonable officer” is and what is deemed reasonable likely differs between police officers and the general community.

In addition to Graham v. Connor, a primary mechanism employed to deter excessive police force is through department policy.  Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) desiring national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) must have well-developed policies that clearly govern use of deadly force, less-lethal force, the rendering of medical aid subsequent to force, the training and proficiency with authorized weapons, and the reporting and review of of uses of force. Police departments typically have established use-of-force continua to guide officer decisions regarding what type of force should be used for a given level of subject resistance. Continua include varying levels of resistance and force arranged along an ordinal scale in terms of the severity of harm it presents to the other person. Typically, continua specify the highest level of force allowed for a given level of subject resistance. Despite the widespread use of these continua by LEAs though, little research has been conducted to evaluate the accuracy of force continua with underlying ordinal rankings.

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Use-of-force data collection may cease due to lack of LE participation

by · Dec 22, 2021 10:33 am

Over the last  few years, strain between police and the community has intensified greatly as incidents have come to light showing hostility between the police and the communities. However, when it comes to really understanding how often these types of events occur, there is no official number of the number of people killed by police annually.  Still, unreliable government numbers fail to portray the true scope of officer-involved shootings and fatalities. The National Use-of-Force Data Collection is the first national-level dataset to offer big-picture insights on police use of force, but participation has been quite low. In fact, law enforcement participation in the national data collection has been so low that it could cause the database to shut down.

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Lack of data hinders research on police violence: Official vs. open-source data

by · Nov 19, 2021 10:30 am

Over the last  few years, strain between police-community relations has intensified greatly as incidents have come to light (e.g., officer-involved shootings, protests) showing hostility between the police and the communities. Although circulation of “viral” videos of police incidents has increased, officer-involved shootings are still a relatively low-occurring event overall. Though, media exposure may make this problem seem more exacerbated than it is. Regardless, lack of transparency on official numbers contributes to contention over police. At present, there is no official number of the number of people killed by police annually.  Still, unreliable government numbers fail to portray the true scope of officer-involved shootings and fatalities. The National Use-of-Force Data Collection is the first national-level dataset to offer big-picture insights on police use of force but it is still in its infancy.

Otherwise, one of the closest things to an official source regarding officer-involved fatalities is collected by the U.S. National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), which tracks death certificates and causes of death in the country. Unfortunately though, these results may be undercounted by more than half, per a recent study in The Lancet. The study compared data from NVSS with data from three of four major publicly available, open-source databases compiled by various researchers (i.e., “Fatal Encounters,” “Mapping Police Violence,” and “The Counted”). The information in these databases is collated from news reports, department websites, and in some cases, public records requests. However, the data sources vary in where and how they collect their data (and how successful they were), so it is difficult to know whether any of these databases adequately represents the United States.

Update: As of December 9, 2021, law enforcement participation in the use-of-force data collection has remained quite low, which may cause the database to shut down.

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Dangerous New DOJ Policy On Chokeholds and “No-Knock” Warrants

by · Sep 15, 2021 11:39 am

A new memo released from the Department of Justice (DOJ) by Attorney General Merrick Garland makes policy changes that have the potential to endanger the lives of federal agents, as well as the limit the seizure of criminal evidence.  According to the memo released September 14th, 2021, the DOJ is changing policy effective immediately regarding the use of chokeholds and “no-knock” warrants.  The change appears inspired by the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.  Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of causing Floyd’s death by using a form of a chokehold to pin him down after he resisted arrest.  Breonna Taylor died in a shootout which began when her current boyfriend shot at police executing a “no-knock” warrant to arrest her former boyfriend, drug dealer Jamarcus Glover.   Continue reading . . .

Advancing police use of force research

by · Jul 1, 2021 3:56 pm

In the past few years, the use of force by police officers has been getting increasingly more attention in the United States and elsewhere, with many advocates pushing for widespread reform in this regard. Unfortunately though, research on police use of force still fails to provide answers to many important questions. A recently published article in the British Psychological Society’s Urgent Issues and Prospects series summarizes the most urgent issues in police use of force based on knowledge from police scholars and practitioners. The article outlines key considerations for advancing police use of force research, many of which center around police de-escalation and use of force training. Continue reading . . .