A Cross-National Analysis of Fatal Police Violence

• In Event: Global Patterns and Shifting Institutions: Comparative Justice and Crime Trends

Abstract

The number of plausible explanations for international variation in the rate of fatal police violence (FPV) is too voluminous to be theoretically satisfying or useful for guiding reforms. This study uses comparative analytics and basic statistical analyses to derive explanations that deserve greater weight. Focusing on populous countries that provide roughly comparable and trustworthy data on FPV, this study improves upon prior work by employing more reliable (multi-year, when available) measures of FPV rates and adding additional explanatory variables. Rates of gun violence stand out as both a necessary and sufficient explanation for high FPV. High FPV countries are also distinguished by longstanding problems of minority group mistreatment along with short or harsh police training, although the presence of some low FPV with these problems demonstrate that these factors are not sufficient to produce the outcome. Comparative analyses also reveal sets of factors including centralization, enforceable necessity standards, and extended training that comprise sufficient conditions to produce low FPV, especially in Nordic countries. Such insights from comparative analyses can help steer help steer use-of-force scholarship literally beyond the borders of conventional discourse.

Author

• Paul J Hirschfield, Rutgers University, New Brunswick