Proximity to Trauma Care and Police Shooting Victim Mortality

• In Event: Issues in Public Safety and Policing

Abstract

Roughly 1,000 people are killed by police gunfire each year in the United States. However, this is just a fraction of all police shootings, most of which do not result in the death of a person. Thus, it is unclear how often U.S. police discharge their firearms at people. Furthermore, the factors that might impact the likelihood of mortality following a police shooting (e.g., wound location, firearm caliber, medical response) require more empirical attention. Using SPOTLITE data, which include any incident where police discharge firearms at people, we examine both fatal and nonfatal police shootings to determine whether proximity to trauma care following a police shooting impacts the likelihood of victim mortality. Data cleaning and analyses are currently underway. We will discuss the findings and implications of our results for understanding the factors that impact victim mortality following police shootings.

Authors

• Preston Trey Bussey, University of Nebraska Omaha

• Brenna Dunlap, University of Nebraska Omaha

• Justin Nix, University of Nebraska Omaha

• Jessica Huff, University of Cincinnati