Understanding the Paths between Disability-Related Impairment, Use of Force, and Serious Injury or Death in Serious Use of Force Incidents by the Police

• In Event: Policy Panel: Health Justice Policy

Abstract

Existing statistics concerning the use of force among people who are disabled are bleak: one study suggests that one-third to one-half of all people killed by the police are disabled. Unfortunately, systematically collected policing data on disability is rare. Furthermore, understanding how impairment shapes an officer’s decision-making around the use of force, which, in turn, impacts injury, is a process that has yet to be modeled. We employ the Use of Force Incident Reporting (UOFIR) data managed by California’s Department of Justice, which includes all police incidents involving serious use of force or where a firearm is discharged. The UOFIR includes whether the individual was impaired during the incident and if that impairment was disability-related. Using bootstrapped, multinomial logistic structured equation modeling predicting the paths between types of impairment, use of force (UOF) level, and injury level while controlling for individual- and incident-level characteristics, we find that two types of impairment impact UOF decisions: intoxication-related impairment lowers the level of UOF while disability-related impairment increases the level of lethal UOF. Once exposed to lethal UOF, serious injury and death are more likely to occur. We close with a discussion of policy and policing implications.

Authors

• Danielle Wallace, Arizona State University

• Isabella Elena Castillo, Arizona State University

• E.C. Hedberg, Abt Associates