Examining the Situational- and Suspect-level Predictors of Police Use of Force Among a Population of Detained Youth

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

Abstract

Research examining police use of force is well established across many factors, including officer-, suspect-, encounter-, administrative-, organizational-, and environmental-level characteristics. Although such research has had a profound effect on our understanding police use of force, it has also overwhelmingly relied on adult populations. With the exception of a few qualitative studies, research examining police use of force involving youths is nearly nonexistent in the literature. To fill this critical research gap, the current study examines a host of situational- and suspect-level predictors of police use of force among a detained youth population. In order to investigate these predictors, data from the Arizona Arrestee Reporting Information Network (AARIN) are analyzed using multivariate analysis. The findings indicate that resistance and demeanor are the two most robust predictors of police use of force among detained youth. These findings are contextualized using prior research on adult populations and have implications for best policing practices.

Authors

• Weston James Morrow, University of Nevada, Reno

• Phlip Mulvey, Illinois State University

• Lidia Nuño, Arizona State University