The Missing Link for Detecting Evidence of Implicit Bias in Police Shooting Decisions

• In Event: Decision Making Processes in Police Use of Force

Abstract

Using data from a large urban police department, we model real world shoot/don't shoot decisions with a mixture of citizen-, officer-, and situational-level variables. The substantive focus is on the intersection between officer/suspect race and shoot/don't shoot outcomes. Our study moves beyond prior studies' focus solely on shooting incidents by also including incidents in which officers drew but did not fire their weapons.

Authors

• John Worrall, University of Texas at Dallas

• Stephen Bishopp, University of Texas at Dallas

• Andrew Wheeler, University of Texas at Dallas

• Scott Zinser, University of Texas at Dallas

• Scott Phillips, State University of New York at Buffalo State