Lessened Police Use of Force Incidents: The Exception or the Rule?

October 25, 2015 4:34 PM

The Portland Police Bureau released a report showing their use of force incidents have fallen. This, after an agreement between the DOJ and the PPB to reduce such incidents. Are there any national statistics that show departments keep down such incidents once they begin such a program? Conversely, are there statistics that show eventually, force incidents (violent take downs and shootings by police) eventually return to pre-reduction levels?
posted by CollectiveMind to Law & Government (6 answers total)

Measuring the Amount of Force Used By and Against the Police in Six Jurisdictions [NCJRS.gov]

Simple descriptive information alone can be misleading, especially when research seeks to associate the use of force with characteristics of officers, suspects, and arrest situations.

Police Use of Force [NIJ.gov]

There is no national database of officer-involved shootings or incidents in which police use excessive force. Most agencies keep such records, but no mechanism exists to produce a national estimate.

posted by Little Dawn at 5:32 PM on October 25, 2015

Use of Force By Police: Overview of National and Local Data [BJS.gov]

(November 1, 1999) This joint report from the National Institute of Justice and BJS presents findings on the extent and nature of police use of force, discusses the difficulties in establishing measurement guidelines, illuminates circumstances under which force is applied, and provides a general framework for future research on excessive displays of force.

National Data Collection on Police Use of Force [BJS.gov]

(May 1, 1996) This discussion paper, published jointly with the National Institute of Justice, summarizes prior research on police use of force and lists the difficulties inherent in collecting use-of-force data, including definitional problems, reluctance of police agencies to provide reliable data, concerns about the misapplication of reported data, and the degree of detail needed on individual incidents.

posted by Little Dawn at 5:45 PM on October 25, 2015

Police Use of Force in Metro-Dade, Florida, and Eugene and Springfield, Oregon, 1993-1995 [NACJD, umich.edu]

Study Purpose: Collecting and interpreting information on police use of force has been a persistent problem for police managers and researchers. Although data on this issue are critical to both the police and the public, the data remain difficult to collect, measure, and interpret objectively. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 requires the United States Attorney General to collect information on law enforcement officers' use of force. This act has led to an energetic effort to collect data on all police use-of-force incidents, including excessive force, by various groups and methods. This study gathered data on police use of force in Metro-Dade, Florida, and Eugene and Springfield, Oregon. The study differed from previous research in that it addressed the level of force used by the police relative to the suspect's level of resistance.

Patterns of Police Use of Force as a Measure of Police Integrity [Researchgate.net]

This research has a number of limitations. First, we sample arrests and do not capture use of force that may occur when an arrest is not made. At the present time, there is no systematic evidence about how much force or what type of force occurs in these non-arrest encounters. However, the possibility that some uses of force in this context are missed in studies, is real.

Second, this research is based on officer self-reports and there is a presumption of bias in all self-reports, even under conditions of confidentiality. Again, we have no research which uses multiple sources of data about police suspect encounters to calibrate the similarities and dissimilarities in self-report measures and independent observations or the impact of confidentiality protections.

posted by Little Dawn at 7:03 PM on October 25, 2015

Understanding Police Use of Force: A Review of the Evidence [swacj.org]

The current study provides a thorough content analysis of use of force studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1995 and 2008. The most commonly used explanatory factors are discussed in terms of their influence on police officers’ decisions to use force during encounters with suspects. Based on the empirical evidence summarized, it appears that few suspect and encounter characteristics are highly influential in determining use of force by police. Moreover, most of the variables used throughout the literature seem to have a mixed relationship with or appear to be poor predictors of use of force by police. We offer possible explanations for the inconsistent findings and suggestions for future research in this area.

Reforming Police Use-of-Force Practices: A Case Study of the Cincinnati Police Department [columbia.edu]

When Congress enacted the Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act of 1994, it gave the Department of Justice (DOJ) a powerful tool for correcting unconstitutional practices in state and local police agencies. Over the last twenty years, the DOJ has used this power to investigate, sue, and enter into contractual agreements with police agencies as a means of reforming unconstitutional police practices, such as excessive use of force, racial profiling, and unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices. These agreements often fail to achieve their stated goals, however, because they lack effective enforcement mechanisms. Additionally, the DOJ has repeatedly failed to combat problems in the implementation process such as officer circumvention, fleeting political support, and intractable command management.

posted by Little Dawn at 9:09 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black [NYT]

In most of the states that monitor traffic stops most intensely, officials acknowledge that this close attention has not had a discernible effect. In Missouri, which has collected data for 15 years, Chris Koster, the state attorney general, has said the differences in how black and white motorists are treated are bigger than ever. Similar racial disparities are revealed in the data that the Nebraska Crime Commission has collected since 2001, but the commission lacks resources to delve into causes or solutions, said the agency’s information chief, Michael Overton.

“Quite honestly, every year I have to pick up my jaw a little bit because the numbers are very, very consistent,” he said.

But Rhode Island and Connecticut have each revised practices. After studies in 2003 and 2006 found racially disparate treatment at traffic stops, Rhode Island revamped its law enforcement training regimen. A 2014 study indicated that officers had become more judicious, conducting fewer consent and probable-cause searches of vehicles, but finding contraband more often.

via Political Lies About Police Brutality [NYT]
posted by Little Dawn at 9:08 AM on October 27, 2015

WaPo: Forced reforms, Mixed results

The question is whether such interventions work. The Justice Department has not studied the long-term outcomes at the law enforcement agencies it has targeted.

To examine the impact, reporters surveyed the departments, visiting four cities. They interviewed officials, federal monitors and civil rights advocates. They also reviewed use-of-force data, monitoring reports and local budgets.

The reforms have led to modernized policies, new equipment and better training, police chiefs, city leaders, activists and Justice officials agree.

But measured by incidents of use of force, one of Justice’s primary metrics, the outcomes are mixed. In five of the 10 police departments for which sufficient data was provided, use of force by officers increased during and after the agreements. In five others, it stayed the same or declined.

posted by Little Dawn at 10:59 PM on November 14, 2015