Examining The Impact Of External Influences On Police Use Of Deadly Force Over Time

Prior deadly force research has sought to identify appropriate mechanisms that can effectively control police officers’ decisions to use deadly force. However, the relative impact of external discretion control policies on police shooting behavior remains largely unknown. Using data from Philadelphia for a period of more than two decades, this article employs interrupted time-series analysis (ARIMA) to examine the impact of legislation and judicial intervention on use of deadly force by Philadelphia police officers. The article also considers the impact of larger, community-level characteristics on levels of deadly force. Findings produced modest support for the potential effect of external discretion control policies and community-level factors on police shooting behavior but generally suggest that dynamic changes in the internal working environment can outweigh the influence of the external mechanisms.

[1]  James J. Fyfe,et al.  Police use of deadly force: Research and reform , 1988 .

[2]  Earl R. Babbie,et al.  The practice of social research , 1969 .

[3]  Jon R. Sorensen,et al.  Factors related to killings of felons by police officers: A test of the community violence and conflict hypotheses , 1993 .

[4]  William B. Waegel.  The Use of Lethal Force by Police: The Effect of Statutory Change , 1984 .

[5]  William A. Geller.  Deadly force: What we know. , 1982 .

[6]  Abraham N. Tennenbaum.  The Influence of the Garner Decision on Police Use of Deadly Force , 1994 .

[7]  Robert H. Langworthy,et al.  Measuring Homicide by Police Officers , 1979 .

[8]  David Jacobs,et al.  Inequality and Police Use of Deadly Force: An Empirical Assessment of a Conflict Hypothesis , 1979 .

[9]  P. Young,et al.  Time series analysis, forecasting and control , 1972, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

[10]  James J. Fyfe,et al.  Administrative interventions on police shooting discretion: An empirical examination , 1979 .

[11]  James J. Fyfe,et al.  Geographic Correlates of Police Shooting: a Microanalysis , 1980 .

[12]  J. Skolnick,et al.  Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force. , 1993 .

[13]  Wade C. Mackey,et al.  POLICE VIOLENCE AS A FUNCTION OF COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS , 1977 .

[14]  M. White,et al.  Controlling Police Decisions to Use Deadly Force: Reexamining the Importance of Administrative Policy , 2001 .

[15]  Joseph E. Scott,et al.  Controversial issues in crime and justice , 1988 .

[16]  A. Liska,et al.  Social threat and social control , 1993 .

[17]  James J. Fyfe,et al.  Blind Justice: Police Shootings in Memphis , 1982 .

[18]  Arnold Binder,et al.  Split-second decisions: Shootings of and by Chicago police: by William A. Geller and Kevin J. Karales. Chicago Law Enforcement Study Group (109 North Dearborn, Chicago, Illinois 60602), 1982, 274 pp., softcover—$6. , 1983 .

[19]  J. Mcculloch.  Skolnick, J H and Fyfe, J J, Above the Law: Police and the Excessive use of Force , 1993 .