The Relationship Between Resting Heart Rate, Arrests, and Arrests with Violence Among Law Enforcement Officers: A Cox Hazard Regression Model Analysis

• In Event: The Further Development of Biosocial Criminology: Integrating Biosocial Concepts into Criminology and Criminal Justice Research

Abstract

Biopsychosocial criminologists have long examined the relationship between low resting heart rate (LHR) and antisocial behavior, with studies generally supporting this link among community and offender samples. However, no study has assessed LHR with respect to increased violence and use of power among law enforcement officers. This study aims to examine the link between LHR and the number of arrests and arrests with violence during one year among a sample of over 888 male and female police officers. Results indicate that when controlling for gender, age, years in service, level of education, current position, body mass index, and health/fitness measures, heart rate showed a significant and positive relationship with arrests with violence and number of arrests the following year. A cumulative cox hazard regression at mean of all covariates suggests that officers' number of arrests and arrests with violence increased as heart rate increased, with a dramatic increase at 110 beats per minute (BPM). Implications of the findings, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Authors

• Richard Moule, University of South Florida

• Bryanna Hahn Fox, University of South Florida

• Lauren Nicole Miley, University of South Florida