Do policy and training changes influence patterns of police use of force? An interrupted time-series analysis
Abstract
Purpose
The current study examines the effect of changing a specific use-of-force policy coupled with de-escalation training implementation on patterns of police use of force.
Design/methodology/approach
An interrupted time-series analysis was used to examine changes in police use-of-force incident records gathered from a large, southwestern US metropolitan police department from 2013 to 2017 based on a TASER policy change and de-escalation training implementation mid-2015.
Findings
Results demonstrate that changes to use-of-force policy regarding one type of force (i.e. use of TASERs) coinciding with de-escalation training influence the prevalence of use-of-force incidents by increasing the reported police use-of-force incidents after the changes were implemented. This finding is somewhat consistent with prior literature but not always in the desired direction.
Practical implications
When police departments make adjustments to use-of-force policies and/or trainings, unintended consequences may occur. Police administrators should measure policy and training outcomes under an evidence-based policing paradigm prior to making those adjustments.
Originality/value
This study is the first to measure the effects of changing use-of-force policy and implementing de-escalation techniques in training on patterns of police use of force and shows that these changes can have a ripple effect across types of force used by police officers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge that the structure and availability of the data from only a single agency do not allow for the inclusion of a separate control group. However, they argue that the timing of the data collection and implementation of the interventions allowed them to capture time periods when other major incidents did not occur in the city. There were no major changes in government, the mayor was consistent throughout the data collection period and the police chief remained the same until the very end of the study period. Furthermore, the large number of data collection points pre- and post-interventions are sufficient enough to capture any underlying trends or the impact any larger events may have had on force usage throughout the agency.
Citation
Rockwell, A.R., Bishopp, S.A. and Orrick, E.A. (2020), "Do policy and training changes influence patterns of police use of force? An interrupted time-series analysis", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-07-2020-0128
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