Progress Toward a National Estimate of Police Uses of Force

• In Event: Police Use of Force and Early Intervention Systems

Abstract

This research builds on three decades of efforts to define and measure the amount of force used by law enforcement agencies in the United States. Using data from a representative sample of state and local law enforcement agencies surveyed in 2013, we estimate the number and rates of force used in the United States in 2012. We also identify the extent to which organizational and community level characteristics are associated with higher and lower rates of force. These results are compared to estimates from prior organizational surveys and from surveys of U.S. residents.

Authors

• Joel H. Garner, Portland State University

• Matthew John Hickman, Seattle University

• Ronald W. Malega, Missouri State University