Police Officer Characteristics and the Likelihood of Using Deadly Force

Citation

Heinonen, J.A. (2008), "Police Officer Characteristics and the Likelihood of Using Deadly Force", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 31 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2008.18131cae.003

Police Officer Characteristics and the Likelihood of Using Deadly Force

Police Officer Characteristics and the Likelihood of Using Deadly Force

Article Type: Perspectives on policing From: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Volume 31, Issue 3

James P. McElvain and Augustine J. KposowaCriminal Justice and BehaviorVol. 35 No. 4pp. 505-21

While police-citizen encounters are numerous, the use of deadly force, or police shootings, during the course of these interactions is extremely rare. Despite their rarity, however, police shootings still stimulate public attention and intense media scrutiny – especially when a shooting incident involves a White officer and a minority suspect. Not surprisingly, then, criminal justice scholars have taken interest in studying the use of lethal force by police. Due to data limitations, however, studies on the police use of deadly force are rare and have become outdated.

Accordingly, McElvain and Kposowa (2008) attempted to fill the void in police use of deadly force literature by investigating several research questions. First, the authors examined the relationship between officer race/ethnicity and the frequency of shooting. Second, they investigated whether an officer’s shooting history predicted their involvement in subsequent shooting incidents. Third, they examined the effect of officer education and rank on the use of deadly force. Finally, they explored the implications of their findings for police agencies and public policy.

Data for this study came from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD). Located in Southern California, the RCSD is the 44th largest law enforcement agency in the USA. Despite its large size, the RCSD is a good representation of many US law enforcement agencies because it serves a mix of rural communities and small and large cities. Specifically, this investigation utilized the RCSD’s police shooting files and officer demographic information obtained from the department’s personnel files. Over a 15-year study timeframe (1990-2004), the authors collected data on 186 officer-involved shootings.

Controlling for other relevant covariates, several multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the effect of officer characteristics on officer-involved shootings. Across various models, the authors discovered that certain officer characteristics were consistently related to police shootings. First, net of various control variables, officer race was a robust determinate of officer-involved shootings. Specifically, White officers were significantly more likely to be involved in shootings compared to Hispanic officers. Second, data showed that male officers were over three times more likely to use lethal force than female officers. Third, college-educated officers were 30 percent less likely to shoot than officers without a college education. Fourth, officers who were involved in previous shooting incidents were more likely to shoot again relative to officers who did not have a history of shooting. Finally, younger lower-ranking officers were more likely to shoot compared to older higher-ranking officers.

According to McElvain and Kposowa (2008), the above findings have direct implications for law enforcement agencies and the use of deadly force. For example, these results should encourage police administrators to examine each shooting incident more closely. Although several significant variables surfaced from this study, there are likely other factors that affect an officer’s likelihood of using deadly force. Second, while race emerged as a strong predictor of officer-involved shootings, it is too early to claim that these incidents are racially motivated. To that end, police departments should examine if race remains an important factor when other variables not included in this study are controlled (i.e. situational factors, citizen actions, prior criminal history, intoxication, etc.). Finally, consistent with past research, this study found that educated officers are less likely to use deadly force. This finding suggests that officers with higher levels of education potentially possess strong interpersonal communication skills that help deescalate volatile police-citizen encounters and minimize the need to use deadly force. Accordingly, police agencies could require college degrees for new hires while also encouraging veteran officers to obtain advanced degrees by providing education incentive/reimbursement packages.

Although their study provided some compelling findings on officer-involved shootings, McElvain and Kposowa (2008) note that it is not without its limitations. First, in addition to officer characteristics, further research should investigate the circumstances, or situational factors, surrounding each shooting incident. Second, while data showed that prior shooting history is strongly related to the later use of deadly force, more research is needed to explain this finding. Finally, similar studies should be conducted with other agencies because the RCSD is not truly representative of all law enforcement agencies in the USA. In sum, even though this study sheds light on officer-involved shootings, several questions remain that require further empirical investigation.