Measuring Deadly Force: What Are Our Options?

• In Event: Research on Police Use of Force

Abstract

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report’s (UCR) Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) have consistently been the sole source of data on police use of deadly force. However, in 2016, the SHR was heavily criticized and shown to be a flawed source of data. While several other data collections have been developed in the hopes of more accurately capturing police interactions that result in civilian deaths, little is known about the accuracy of these data sources. In this paper, we offer a systematic investigation into one of these recently developed data sources: Mapping Police Violence (MPV). Specifically, we examine the black-white disparities of police use of deadly force at the state-level for MPV, and compare those estimates to SHR estimates. This research then estimates commonly utilized state-indicators to predict police violence with the SHR data and, compares those parameters to estimated models of police violence as measured by the MPV data. Overall, the goal of this study is to build on existing knowledge about police use of deadly force while also improving upon the past methodology and data used.

Authors

• Andrew Charles Gray, University of Delaware

• Karen F. Parker, University of Delaware