Police Violence: Revenge or Collateral Damage?

• In Event: Policing the Americas

Abstract

This paper explores the micro-dynamics of police use of violence against civilians in Latin America. I use incident-level data on gun shootings and resulting civilian and police deaths in Rio de Janeiro to investigate the relationship between the violent death of a police officer and police involvement in shootings and civilian deaths. Does police reaction to a fellow officer’s death impact the following incidence of violence? Using a quasi-experimental design, I find evidence that the violent death of a police officer causes an increase in their involvement in shootings registered the following day. Consistent with the literature on shooting under stress, though, I do not find an increase in the share of shootings resulting in deaths. I take these findings as confirmation that revenge is a driving mechanism of police use of force, which increases following a comrade's death. This paper contributes to wider discussions on public security in Latin America and the state’s use of force by exploring one of many processes that shape the resort to violence in the region.

Author

• Ana Paula Pellegrino, Georgetown University