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1 – 10 of over 198000Ronald J. Burke and Aslaug Mikkelsen
Although many studies have considered burnout in the human services, little research on burnout has focused on police officers. This study aims to examine the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
Although many studies have considered burnout in the human services, little research on burnout has focused on police officers. This study aims to examine the relationship between burnout and police officers' attitudes towards the use of force and attitudes towards the use of social skills to solve problems.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 766 police officers in Norway using anonymously completed questionnaires.
Findings
Police officers reporting higher levels of cynicism also held more favorable attitudes towards the use of force; police officers reporting higher levels of professional efficacy also held more favorable attitudes towards the use of social skills to solve problems.
Research limitations/implications
Future research needs to examine these findings in other countries and using longitudinal research designs.
Practical implications
Organizations are advised to monitor burnout levels of front‐line service workers and introduce structures and processes to reduce burnout levels.
Originality/value
This study has value for senior police management and employment counselors.
In this study we set out to explain police support for the use of force, police response to a vignette about force, and police self-reported use of force.
Abstract
Purpose
In this study we set out to explain police support for the use of force, police response to a vignette about force, and police self-reported use of force.
Methodology/approach
The computer-assisted survey was conducted among 419 officers of the Metropolitana police department in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Findings
The regression analyses show that a substantial part of how officers view force, and the reported frequency of their own use of force, can be explained through demographic characteristics, organizational features, attitudes toward citizens, and personal experience.
Originality/value
This study was conducted in a region where excessive police use of force is unfortunately a continuing concern. Based on the results we advise police organizations to tackle this issue by investing in improving police attitudes toward both internal and external relations. We also recommend prohibiting officers to carry the regulatory gun while off duty, in order to reduce deaths of both civilians and officers.
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Dae-Young Kim and Scott W. Phillips
The present study examines the risk of citizens encountering police use of intermediate and deadly force, as opposed to using physical force, given a set of individual…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study examines the risk of citizens encountering police use of intermediate and deadly force, as opposed to using physical force, given a set of individual, situational and neighborhood variables.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from 2003 to 2016 in the Dallas Open Data Portal. Two-level multinomial logistic regression is used to analyze the data.
Findings
The effects of citizen race differ across the types of police force. Overall, citizen race plays no significant role in the officer's decision to shoot firearms at citizens. However, there is evidence of intra-racial disparity in officer-involved shootings (OISs) between Hispanic citizens and officers. African American citizens are disproportionately exposed to display-but-don't shoot incidents, while Hispanic citizens have a lower risk of encountering police use of intermediate weapons.
Originality/value
The study helps to understand how citizen and officer race influence and interact across various types of police force. Implications of the results are offered in relation to relevant literature.
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John C. Navarro and Michael A. Hansen
The purpose of this study is to explore the ideological gaps on police use of force.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the ideological gaps on police use of force.
Design/methodology/approach
In a national-level survey distributed via Mechanical Turk (MTurk) (n = 979), the authors explore the role that respondents' political ideology plays in the approval of police use of force across a range of scenarios.
Findings
Across all scenarios, self-identified conservative respondents maintain strong approval of police use of force. In comparison, liberal respondents provide more variance in their views on approval of police use of force based on the scenario. The scenarios where there are small gaps in approval between the two ideologies are when reasonable force is used toward a violent threat.
Social implications
There are specific circumstances where the messaging surrounding use of force can create agreement (reasonable) or disagreement (excessive) among conservatives and liberals.
Originality/value
Conservatives and liberals demonstrate gaps across an even larger set of use of force scenarios.
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Bruce Taylor, Geoffrey Alpert, Bruce Kubu, Daniel Woods and Roger G. Dunham
Few studies track non‐lethal weapon use by law enforcement agencies (LEAs), the number/level of force used by these agencies, complaints for excessive force, and injuries to…
Abstract
Purpose
Few studies track non‐lethal weapon use by law enforcement agencies (LEAs), the number/level of force used by these agencies, complaints for excessive force, and injuries to officers and suspects, both over time (especially recently) and with a national probability‐based sample. This study aims to address these gaps by developing longitudinal estimates to examine these use‐of‐force issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Two surveys of LEAs were conducted (n=518 and n=357 LEAs), covering 2003 to 2008, and statistical weights were used to align the data to be representative of all state and local LEAs in the USA, including adjustments for survey non‐response.
Findings
Conducted energy devices (CED) deployment has risen significantly (to about 70 percent of LEAs). However, standard baton use is down to 25 percent in 2008 and when available to the officer, batons are more likely to be left in their vehicles compared to CEDs. Baton use and empty‐hand tactics are becoming less commonly used by officers, but CED use was ranked among the most used tactics from 2005 to 2008. Excessive force complaints against LEAs, internally generated, have more than doubled from 2003 to 2008. Officer injuries varied little from 2003 to 2008, but they are still only about half as common as suspect injuries. Also, only 20 percent of LEAs collect injury data in a database, complicating future research.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies to track, nationally, the types of non‐lethal weapons in use by LEAs, and force level used, providing aid to LEA executives and policymakers who need to follow new trends in non‐lethal weapons.
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William Terrill, Fredrik H. Leinfelt and Dae‐Hoon Kwak
This research seeks to examine police use of force from a smaller police agency perspective in comparison with what is known from previous research using data from larger‐scale…
Abstract
Purpose
This research seeks to examine police use of force from a smaller police agency perspective in comparison with what is known from previous research using data from larger‐scale agencies.
Design/methodology/approach
Using police use of force reports involving arrests (n=3,264) over a three‐year period (2002‐2004) from a small police agency located in the upper‐Midwest, this study utilizes descriptive and multivariate analyses to examine how and why officers use force.
Findings
While officers resorted to physical force (beyond handcuffing) in 18 percent of the arrest encounters, the majority of force is located at the lower end of the force continuum (e.g. soft hand control). However, unlike officer behavior, much of the resistant behavior displayed by suspects is toward the upper end of the spectrum (e.g. defensive/active). The results also indicate that the most powerful predictor of force is the presence and level of suspect resistance presented to officers. These findings are placed within the context of prior work.
Research limitations/implications
Since the current study relies on official data from a single police agency, the findings come with caution in terms of generalizability.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on police use of force by examining everyday force usage in a small police department.
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Analyzes policies from 96 law enforcement agencies on their use of less‐than‐lethal force. Includes a review of several topics: policy purpose, definitions of lethal and…
Abstract
Analyzes policies from 96 law enforcement agencies on their use of less‐than‐lethal force. Includes a review of several topics: policy purpose, definitions of lethal and less‐than‐lethal force, provisions for authorized and unauthorized weapons, training requirements, avoiding excessive force, medical aid and report requirements. Concludes that most policies are deficient in one or more topic areas. Provides recommendations on how to improve these policies.
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William Terrill, Jason Robert Ingram, Logan J. Somers and Eugene A. Paoline III
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between police use of force and citizen complaints alleging improper use of force.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between police use of force and citizen complaints alleging improper use of force.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study utilizes official use of force and citizen complaint data, as well as surveys of patrol officers, from the Assessing Police Use of Force Policy and Outcomes Project, a multimethod National Institute of Justice funded study.
Findings
Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the number of use of force incidents that officers were involved in, as well as the types and levels of resistance they encountered from citizens, was related to use of force complaints from citizens. That is, those officers that were involved in more use of force situations were engaged in force encounters where the highest level of citizen resistance was “failure to comply,” and faced higher cumulative levels of citizen resistance, received more complaints alleging improper use of force.
Research limitations/implications
Studies of citizen complaints against police officers, especially those alleging improper use of force, should consider the number of force incidents officers are involved in, as well as other theoretically relevant force correlates.
Practical implications
Administrators, concerned with citizen allegations for improper use of force against their officers, should work to encourage their personnel to minimize the number of use of force applications, or at least less cumulative force, to resolve encounters with citizens.
Originality/value
While prior studies have examined police use of force and citizen complaints independently, the current study examines the empirical connection between use of force behavior and the generation of complaints from citizens.
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Richard C. Lumb and Paul C. Friday
Use of “less than lethal weapons” by police has generated extreme review and controversy in some highly publicized cases. Confronting hostility and aggressiveness, police officers…
Abstract
Use of “less than lethal weapons” by police has generated extreme review and controversy in some highly publicized cases. Confronting hostility and aggressiveness, police officers cannot turn away and flee from a dangerous situation, forcing them to select the best available option for controlling the individual. Among the officers’ choice of responses, oleoresin capsicum (OC) pepper spray has proven to be extremely effective. However, this is not a risk‐free weapon, and due to a number of suspect deaths following its use, it has become controversial. Investigates if OC spray reduced the frequency and level of use of force, and if its availability affected the number of suspect and officer injuries.
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