A Spatial Analysis of Civilians Killed by Police in 2015

• In Event: Civilians Killed by U.S. Police in 2015

Abstract

Prior studies examining trends in US police deadly force incidents have been hampered by limited data. The present study examines the spatial patterns of 990 deadly police shooting incidents gathered by The Washington Post. Fatal officer-involved shooting incidents (OISs) will be geocoded to different levels of geographic aggregation (states, counties, and cities). Analyses will consist of examining spatial patterns to see if there is regional and sub-regional variation in OISs, adjusting for underlying factors such as crime and population at risk. Epidemiological software (SaTScan) will be utilized to test for the presence of statistically significant clusters of OISs within the contiguous U.S. Finally, regression analyses will be employed to explain the observed spatial patterning of shootings.

Authors

• Robert J. Kaminski, University of South Carolina

• Justin Nix, University of Louisville

• Bradley A. Campbell, University of Louisville

• Geoffrey P. Alpert, University of South Carolina / Griffith University