Fatal Police-Citizen Encounters: Does Community Racial Composition Impact the Odds of Police Use of Deadly Force Relative to Police Lethal Victimization?

• In Event: 4260 - Race/Ethnicity and Police Shootings: Call for New Data and Knowledge

Abstract

The use of lethal force by police officers is arguably the most important indicator of police behavior. As such, police use of lethal force has been the subject of academic inquiry for at least half a century. Police also assume a high level of risk during encounters with the general public. Police officers experience higher rates of general victimization than any other occupation, and law enforcement is the second most lethal occupation. Yet, previous research has tended to focus on police use of lethal force and police lethal victimization independently. Moreover, research on fatal police-citizen encounters has been conducted primarily at the individual- or agency-level. We argue that to fully understand these two phenomena, research needs to: (1) integrate the literature on police use of lethal force and police lethal victimization; and (2) utilize multilevel analysis to empirically disentangle the individual, agency, and contextual correlates of fatal police-citizen encounters. Accordingly, this study integrates the research bases on police use of lethal force and police lethal victimization to examine the contexts in which police use lethal force, relative to the contexts in which officers are killed in the line of duty. Data were compiled on 6,416 citizen fatalities and 709 officer fatalities distributed across 1,739 agencies and 1,506 U.S. cities from 2000–2016. Three-level logistic regression models indicate that community racial composition has a substantial impact on the odds of police lethal victimization relative to citizen fatalities by the police. Moreover, it is necessary to consider community racial composition in tandem with structural disadvantage to fully contextualize fatal police-citizen encounters. Ultimately, the findings speak to the utility of considering police use of lethal force and police lethal victimization concurrently in their broader social contexts.

Authors

• Gregory M. Zimmerman, Northeastern University

• Emma Fridel, Northeastern University

• Keller Sheppard, Northeastern University