NT OF ME J T US U.S. Department of Justice R T A I P C E E D

B

O J C S Office of Justice Programs F A V M F O I N A C I J S R E BJ G O OJJ DP O F PR JUSTICE U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street N.W. Washington, DC 20531

Janet Reno Attorney General

Raymond C. Fisher Associate Attorney General

Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General

Noël Brennan Deputy Assistant Attorney General

Jeremy Travis Jan M. Chaiken Director, National Institute of Justice Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics World Wide Web Site World Wide Web Site World Wide Web Site http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs Use of Force by Police Overview of National and Local Data

Contributors:

Kenneth Adams Joel H. Garner Patrick A. Langan Geoffrey P. Alpert Lawrence A. Greenfeld Christopher D. Maxwell Roger G. Dunham Mark A. Henriquez Steven K. Smith

October 1999 NCJ 176330 Jeremy Travis Jan M. Chaiken Director, National Institute of Justice Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Robert J. Kaminski Program Manager, National Institute of Justice

Acknowledgments: This report is indebted to many individuals and organizations for their valuable assistance and insights. Special thanks are extended to the law enforcement agen- cies that cooperated with the researchers whose findings appear in this report. In so doing, the following agencies demonstrated the type of leadership so critical to the advancement of policing practice and policy: Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Police Department, Colorado Springs (Colorado) Police Department, Dallas (Texas) Police Department, Eugene (Oregon) Police Department, Miami-Dade (Florida) Police Department, St. Petersburg (Florida) Police Department, San Diego (California) Police Department, San Diego County (California) Sheriff’s Department, Springfield (Oregon) Police Department, and the many departments that have participated in the use-of-force database project of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Points of view expressed by contributors to this report do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics are components of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Foreword

aw enforcement officers are authorized jurisdictions, and offers a researcher’s sug- Lto use force in specified circumstances, gestions for a future research agenda on are trained in the use of force, and typically police use of force, with special attention face numerous circumstances during their given to issues of excessive force. careers when use of force is appropriate—for Research consistently demonstrates that a example, in making some arrests, restrain- small percentage of police-public interac- ing unruly combatants, or controlling a dis- tions involve use of force. Various data ruptive demonstration. When the level of sources, including police use-of-force reports, force exceeds the level considered justifiable civilian complaints, victim surveys, and ob- under the circumstances, however, the activi- servational methods, confirm this basic find- ties of the police come under public scrutiny. ing. For example, the 1996 pilot test of the Incidents involving the use of excessive force PPCS found that about 1 percent of people by the police frequently receive attention reporting contacts with police said that offic- from the media, legislators, and, in some ers used or threatened force. Beginning in instances, civil and even criminal courts. July 1999, the PPCS is being fielded to a Whether the excessive force is aberrant much larger sample than responded to the behavior of individual officers or is a pattern 1996 test, and the results will be presented and practice of an entire law enforcement in a report next year. In the years ahead, it agency, both the law and public opinion is expected that the PPCS will provide the condemn such incidents. basis for a legislatively mandated annual report by the Attorney General documenting This report is one in a series of publications the prevalence of the use of excessive force. by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) NIJ-sponsored research at the local level that seek to inform public discussion by found that, in the context of the subset examining police use of force from many per- of police-public contacts involving adult spectives. The report provides an overview custody arrests, police used physical force of the state of research knowledge about (handcuffing excluded) in less than 20 per- police use of force, updates progress on the cent of 7,512 arrests studied (chapter 4). national BJS Police-Public Contact Survey Even in those instances, police primarily (PPCS) and the database project of the Inter- used weaponless tactics, such as grabbing or national Association of Chiefs of Police, pro- holding, which is consistent with the view vides the latest findings from NIJ-supported that relatively minor types of force dominate use-of-force research projects in several local statistics on police use of force. That view

iii Use of Force by Police

is further supported by research indicating public, enhancing the safety of the commu- that in incidents involving resistance by sus- nity and officers, and building widespread pects, their injuries resulting from police use support among those they serve. of force were typically minor (chapter 5). Ongoing research by NIJ and BJS seeks to Jeremy Travis provide the perspective, insight, and factual Director data needed by police and others to address National Institute of Justice use-of-force issues constructively. Through this and other policing research, we seek Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D. to advance our goal of assisting law Director enforcement agencies in protecting the Bureau of Justice Statistics

iv Contents

Foreword ...... iii

Executive Summary ...... vii

1. What We Know About Police Use of Force ...... 1 by Kenneth Adams

2. Revising and Fielding the Police-Public Contact Survey ...... 15 by Lawrence A. Greenfeld, Patrick A. Langan, and Steven K. Smith

3. IACP National Database Project on Police Use of Force ...... 19 by Mark A. Henriquez

4. Measuring the Amount of Force Used By and Against the Police in Six Jurisdictions ...... 25 by Joel H. Garner and Christopher D. Maxwell

5. The Force Factor: Measuring and Assessing Police Use of Force and Suspect Resistance ...... 45 by Geoffrey P. Alpert and Roger G. Dunham

6. A Research Agenda on Police Use of Force ...... 61 by Kenneth Adams

Bibliography...... 75

v Executive Summary

ecent developments have heightened For example, about 1 percent of people who R concern about police use of force. They had face-to-face contacts with police said range from well-publicized incidents involv- that officers used or threatened force, ac- ing allegations of excessive force to the onset cording to preliminary estimates based on of “aggressive” policing, whose frequent the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 1996 pretest emphasis on zero-tolerance enforcement is of its Police-Public Contact Survey (chapter sometimes regarded as encouraging use-of- 2). In 7,512 adult custody arrests, another force abuses. No matter what specific event study (chapter 4) notes that fewer than one triggers concern about police use of force, out of five arrests involved police use of how is the public to assess whether such physical force (defined as use of any weapon, force is, in the aggregate, a major problem? use of any weaponless tactic, or use of severe One way is to examine what research has restraints). That can be considered a low unearthed. rate in view of the study’s broad definition The organization of the of force. executive summary par- Overview: What Do We Know About Also known with substantial confidence is allels that of the report Police Use of Force? that police use of force typically occurs at the as a whole; that is, the lower end of the force spectrum, involving order of topics highlighted As discussed in chapter 1, research-based grabbing, pushing, or shoving. In the study in this summary tracks knowledge about police use of force can be focusing on 7,512 adult custody arrests, the chapter sequence. Oc- placed into three categories. The first per- for instance, about 80 percent of arrests in casional cross-references tains to knowledge that can be accepted with which police used force involved use of weap- to specific chapters are substantial confidence as “fact.” The second onless tactics. Grabbing was the tactic used intended to assist readers relates to use-of-force knowledge that can be about half the time. About 2.1 percent of all in locating more detailed accepted only with modest confidence be- arrests involved use of weapons by police. information. cause, for example, additional research is Chemical agents, such as pepper spray, were warranted. The third category consists of the weapons most frequently used (1.2 per- knowledge yet to be developed through cent of all arrests), with firearms least often research—that is, what is not yet known. used (0.2 percent). Known with substantial confidence From a police administrator’s point of view, these findings are predictable. Officers are Known with substantial confidence is that trained to use force progressively along a police use force infrequently. The data indi- continuum, and policy requires that officers cate that a small percentage of police-public use the least amount of force necessary to encounters involve force.

vii Use of Force by Police

accomplish their goals. The kinds of police areas where it is difficult to decide whether actions that most arouse the public’s con- an officer acted properly, given credible evi- cerns—such as fatal shootings, severe dence that use of force was necessary. beatings with fists or batons that lead to hos- pitalization, and choke holds that cause un- Known with modest confidence consciousness or even death—are not typical Regarding what is known with modest confi- of situations in which police use force. dence about police use of force, chapter 1 When injuries occur as a result of the use identifies three conclusions suggested by of force, they are likely to be minor. In one research data: study (chapter 5), researchers found that ● Use of force appears to be unrelated to an the most common injury to a suspect was a officer’s personal characteristics, such as bruise or abrasion (48 percent). age, gender, and ethnicity. This conclusion Another research finding that can be ac- should be accepted with caution, however. cepted with substantial confidence is that Additional verification is needed. use of force typically occurs when police are ● Use of force is more likely to occur when trying to make an arrest and the suspect is police are dealing with persons under the resisting. This conclusion is based on four influence of alcohol or drugs or with men- types of data: arrest statistics, surveys of po- tally ill individuals. Research findings in lice officers, observations of police behavior, this area are inconsistent, however. Fur- and reports by the public about their encoun- ther investigation, with an emphasis on ters with police. implications for training, could lead to a The foregoing findings leave open the issue reduction in the risk of force and injury of excessive force because issues of propor- for both police officers and civilians. tionality are not clearly addressed. Research ● A small proportion of officers are dispro- findings suggest, however, that many de- portionately involved in use-of-force bates over excessive force will fall into gray incidents. More research is needed.

About this report This report is one of a series of use-of-force sons age 12 or older. The other seeks to publications (see Bibliography, page 75) encourage as many local law enforcement generated by research supported by the agencies as possible to submit voluntarily National Institute of Justice or Bureau of and anonymously use-of-force data to a Justice Statistics. The data and findings central database for analysis. herein contribute to a better understanding Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the local level. of the extent and nature of police use of They present use-of-force findings based force and of the circumstances under which on data acquired from nine police agencies. such force is applied. The final chapter looks ahead by proposing A major objective of chapter 1 is to provide a research agenda on police use of force, an overview of what is known (and not with special attention given to issues of known) about police use of force and excessive force. thereby help readers put the issue in per- spective. The next two chapters are updates Thus, this report begins with an overview of two national projects. One is designed to of what is known about police use of force, collect data on police-public contacts, includ- proceeds to outline what is being learned, ing those involving police use of force, from and concludes with a proposed plan for a nationally representative sample of per- future research.

viii Executive Summary

Among what is not known lead to excessive force by police seem ob- vious, or appear to be a matter of common As stated in chapter 1: “The incidence of sense, a great need for systematic re- wrongful use of force by police is unknown. search in this area exists. Research is critically needed to determine reliably, validly, and precisely how often ● Influences of situational characteristics transgressions of use-of-force powers occur.” on police use of force and the transac- tional nature of these events are largely Researchers and practitioners both tend to unknown. For example, little is known presuppose that the incidence of excessive beyond research indicating that situations force by police is very low. If use of force is most likely to involve police use of force uncommon, and civilian complaints are in- are interpersonal disturbance and violent frequent, and civilian injuries are few, then personal crime, and situations when sus- excessive force by police must be rare. That pects attempt to flee or physically resist conclusion may indeed be correct, but to the arrest. Those findings, however, do not extent that it hinges on official police statis- address the transactional, or step-by-step tics, it is open to serious challenge. unfolding, of police-public encounters. Was Current indicators of excessive force, such as suspect resistance the result of police use civilian complaints and civil lawsuits, are all of force, or did police use force after expe- critically flawed. The difficulties in measur- riencing suspect resistance? ing excessive force with complaint and lawsuit records have led academics and Updates on Two National Projects practitioners to redirect their attention to In 1996, the Bureau of Justice Statistics all use-of-force incidents. Theoretically, un- (BJS) and the International Association of derstanding all use-of-force incidents helps Chiefs of Police (IACP) initiated projects in- put wrongful use of force in perspective. volving collection of data encompassing po- As one example of how understanding all lice use of force. Both are currently ongoing. use-of-force incidents can help put excessive force in perspective, the study of 7,512 adult The BJS survey custody arrests (chapter 4) makes this To learn more about police use of force re- observation: quires an understanding of the reasons for “ . . . most arrests involve no force, excessive and the results of police-public encounters. or otherwise. When force is used, it typically As a step toward developing that under- involves less severe forms of tactics and standing, BJS supplemented the National weapon use. These findings provide a context Crime Victimization Survey with a pilot test “NCVS is based on inter- for understanding excessive force, which we of its Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS) in views conducted with a know can involve low-level acts of force . . . 1996 (chapter 2). nationally representative as well as the acts of force that result in sample of U.S. house- Among the findings was a preliminary physical injury or death of civilians. Arrests holds and has become a estimate that about 1 percent of people re- that involve no force, however, cannot in- highly useful platform for porting contacts with police indicated that volve excessive force and arrests that involve testing new question- officers used or threatened force. In the low levels of force are less likely to involve naires and periodically majority of those instances, respondents said excessive force.” implementing supple- that their own actions, such as threatening ments.” —Greenfeld, et Additional gaps in use-of-force knowledge police, may have provoked officers. include the following: al., page 15 of this report. In July 1999, a second test of PPCS was ● The impact of differences in police organi- fielded to a much larger sample than that zations, including administrative policies, used in the 1996 pilot test. In addition, BJS hiring, training, discipline, and use of anticipates adding items to its periodic sur- technology, on excessive force is unknown. veys conducted among nationally representa- Although many conditions that arguably tive samples of those confined in local jails

ix Use of Force by Police

and prisoners held by State and Federal the force factor, a measure of the level of authorities. The new survey items would force used by officers relative to the level of provide, for the first time, information about resistance by suspects. respondents’ interactions, including use of force, with police during the arrest preceding Study on the amount of force used in incarceration. six jurisdictions

The IACP database project The six-jurisdiction study (chapter 4) gath- ered data about officers’ and suspects’ behav- Initiated in 1996, the IACP database project iors in connection with 7,512 adult custody is designed to collect use-of-force information arrests (arrests in which suspects are trans- from law enforcement agencies across the ported to a detention facility, in contrast to “...IACP designed the Nation (chapter 3). To promote accurate re- being issued a summons to appear before a project from the outset to porting and overcome potential reluctance judicial officer). The researchers focused on reflect operational reali- of agencies to participate, IACP decided that the amount of force used by and against po- ties of modern, street-level provision of data would be both voluntary lice, with the expectation that this informa- law enforcement, includ- and anonymous. tion would inform issues surrounding the ing the very meaning of use of excessive force. For instance, excessive Collected data pertain to reported use of ‘police use of force,’ de- force is typically but not necessarily associ- force stemming from police responses to calls fined as the amount of ated with more severe forms of force that for service, whether or not those responses force required by police to could or do result in injury or death. resulted in arrests. About 150 agencies are compel compliance by an expected to contribute data for the 1998–99 Emerging from the research is a more complete unwilling subject.” data year. Among preliminary findings: understanding of the frequency with which cer- —Henriquez, page 20 of tain types of tactics are used and what types of this report. ● Based on 1995 data reported by 110 agen- weapons are displayed, threatened, or actually cies, the police use-of-force rate was 4.19 used. The consistent findings across all six per 10,000 responded-to calls for service, jurisdictions are that most arrests (more than or 0.0419 percent. 80 percent) did not involve force by police (ex- ● Based on data reported for 1996–97, 87 cluding handcuffing) or by suspects. In 98 per- percent of 62,411 use-of-force incidents cent of arrests where force was used, no weapon involved officers using physical force. Of- was used, threatened, or even displayed. When ficers used chemical force in 7 percent of police used some form of weaponless tactic (hit- the incidents, firearms in about 5 percent. ting, kicking, wrestling, etc.), the most frequent tactic involved only grabbing (about half the ● Based on available data for 1996–97, about time). 10 percent of 2,479 officers using force sus- tained injuries, less than 1 percent serious. In addition to providing data on the use of About 38 percent of subjects were injured weapons and weaponless tactics, the study due to police use of force, with 1.5 percent identified three other elements, sometimes sustaining major injuries. included in the concept of use of force:

Because the data are not yet nationally ● Restraints. In about 82 percent of all representative, conclusions about national 7,512 arrests, officers reported use of use-of-force trends should not be attempted. handcuffs. Leg cuffs were used in 0.9 per- cent of arrests. Officers used more severe Two Local-Level Studies restraints in 0.4 percent of arrests. Re- straints were not used in approximately One of the local-level studies measured the 16 percent of arrests. amount of force used by and against police in six jurisdictions. The other measured and ● Motion. Pursuit on foot and by car oc- assessed police use of force and suspect re- curred in 3 percent and 2.4 percent, re- sistance in three jurisdictions and developed spectively, of all arrests. Pursuit did not

x Executive Summary

occur in 94.4 percent of arrests. Suspect The two-city Oregon site of Eugene/ flight most frequently occurred by foot (in Springfield. Researchers analyzed 562 po- 4.7 percent of arrests). In 93.5 percent of lice actions, 57 percent of which were taken arrests, suspects did not flee. by officers responding to calls for service and 33 percent by officers reacting to situations ● Voice. In 61.2 percent of arrests, police they had observed. The most common type of reported they used a conversational tone incident (25 percent) confronting officers was with suspects. street violence. Most police action (76 per- Among the measures of force used by police cent) was taken to apprehend or control a officers that were developed by the research- person. ers are physical force and physical force plus Officers often used more than one verbal or threats. The study found that 17.1 percent physical control tactic per incident. For in- of arrests involved physical force (use of a stance, 93 percent of 546 incidents involved weapon, weaponless tactic, or severe re- at least two tactics; 87 percent, at least three; straint) and that 18.9 percent entailed and 41 percent, at least four. The pattern of physical force or the display or threatened tactic use that emerged corresponds to the use of any weapon. traditional use-of-force continuum. The first To better distinguish between different types tactic used in an incident is nearly always of force—such as between grabbing and kick- the least severe use of force on the con- ing—the researchers developed a maximum tinuum; the second is almost always the sec- force measure, which involved officers’ rank- ond-most lenient; and so on, with very few ing 60 hypothetical types of force in terms of exceptions. their severity on a scale from 1 (least force- Of 504 reported incidents in which force was ful) to 100 (most forceful). When the mea- used, 1.8 percent resulted in injury to officers. sure was applied to the types of force officers They were most at risk for injury when wres- reported using, the study found that the tling, striking, or taking a suspect to the ranking score for commanding a suspect to ground. do something (1.3 percent of all arrests) was 22; for using handcuffs (57.3 percent of The level of force used by the department’s arrests), 28.2; and for displaying a handgun officers relative to the amount of the sus- (2.2 percent of arrests), 55.4. The average pects’ resistance—the force factor—averaged ranking score for the types of force used in slightly higher than the amount of resistance all arrests was 30. encountered. On average, more force than resistance was used. This does not necessar- The researchers state that their findings ily imply that the level of police force was are beginning to provide a stable picture of excessive. For example, an officer may justifi- police behavior and the amount of force that ably use more force than does a suspect to police use in arrest situations, but they note gain control of a situation. the findings remain tentative given the small number of jurisdictions involved in The Florida site. The study focused on data the research, among other reasons. in 882 official Control-of-Persons Reports prepared by officers’ supervisors in the Study on police use of force and Miami-Dade Police Department. Ninety- suspect resistance seven percent of suspects resisted. The study collected use-of-force data from The type of resistance most often reported three law enforcement agencies— police was actively resisting arrest (36 percent), fol- departments in two Oregon cities and one lowed by assaulting the officer (25 percent). county department in Florida (chapter 5). Twenty one percent of suspects attempted to The areas served by the Oregon departments escape or flee the scene. The most common were considered one site. type of force used by suspects was striking or

xi Use of Force by Police

hitting the officer (44 percent). Initially calm A Proposed Research Agenda suspects were least likely to resist officers but were the most likely to flee and the most The development of a research agenda on likely to resist with a gun or assault officers police use of force, with special attention with a vehicle. given to issues of excessive force, should be guided by these general considerations. The most common type of suspect injury was a bruise or abrasion (48 percent of those in- ● Research should provide new knowledge jured), followed by lacerations (24 percent), that significantly increases our under- and gunshot injuries (4 percent). The chance standing of the problem. of suspect injury was significant no matter ● Research should be policy relevant. what type of force was used by police. For example, officer use of fists entailed an 81 ● Research activities, taken as a whole, percent chance of suspect injury; use of a should be comprehensive and systematic. PR-24 baton, a 67 percent chance; and use of Within that general framework, more work a handgun, a 48 percent chance. is required on what various people—general Suspects who were reportedly impaired by public, minorities, police administrators, pa- alcohol or drugs were no more likely to resist trol officers, judges, offenders, etc.— have in officers than sober suspects. When they did mind when they refer to excessive force and resist, however, they were more likely than how they adjudge specific instances of police nonimpaired suspects to directly assault the behavior when questions of excessive force officer and more than twice as likely to use arise. This research is important because so- a gun. cial problems often require shared solutions, and shared solutions require a common basis The most common type of force used by officers of understanding and mutual respect for was use of hands and arms (77 percent of use- differences in views. of-force incidents). In 64 percent of incidents, officers grabbed or held suspects. There were Also needed is more and better data on no statistically significant differences in the police use of force. Most discussions occur in level of force used by male and female officers. an empirical vacuum where arguments are The ethnicity of an officer did not affect the made without the benefit of solid, useful general level of force used or whether force was information. used. Research is required on how use of force by Data suggest that officers are significantly police varies across time, cities, and indi- at risk for injury when they use force, par- vidual police departments. Research also is ticularly when they strike a suspect with needed on individual, situational, and orga- their fists (48 percent chance) or use their nizational factors related to variations in hands and arms to control a suspect (43 per- use-of-force levels, along with excessive force cent chance). Because most use-of-force inci- levels and should focus on the relation be- dents involved use of hands, arms, or fists tween excessive use of force, meaning the by officers, they are most at risk for injury frequency with which police use force, and when using precisely the types of force that excessive force, meaning instances in which they report using most frequently. police use more force than is necessary. Police officers’ use of force in relation to sus- Finally, interventions, changes, and reforms pect resistance—the force factor—averaged that may mitigate police use-of-force prob- slightly less force than the resistance en- lems should be identified, documented, and countered. Data indicate that officers are evaluated. more likely to be injured when using less force than that used by resisting suspects.

xii 1 What We Know About Police Use of Force by Kenneth Adams

mbrose Bierce, a social critic known for operate as members of the community they A his sarcasm and wit, once described the serve. The community, in turn, enters into a police as “an armed force for protection and solemn and consequential relationship with participation.”1 In this pithy statement, the police, ceding to them the power to de- Bierce identifies three critical elements of prive persons of “life, liberty, and the pursuit the police role. First, by describing the police of happiness” at a moment’s notice and de- as “armed,” their ability to coerce recalci- pending on them for public safety. Without trant persons to comply with the law is em- police, the safety of the community is jeopar- phasized. Because police carry weapons, dized. Without community support, police it follows that the force they use may have are dispossessed of their legitimacy and lethal consequences. The capacity to use robbed of their effectiveness. coercive, deadly force is so central to under- This three-element definition of police standing police functions, one could say that makes it easy to understand why abuse of Kenneth Adams, Ph.D., it characterizes a key element of the police force by police is of such great concern. First, is Associate Professor role. there is the humanitarian concern that po- and Chair of the Crimi- Second, the primary purpose of police is lice are capable of inflicting serious, even le- nal Justice Faculty, protection, and so force can be used only to thal, harm on the public. Second, there is the School of Public and promote the safety of the community. Police philosophical dilemma that in “protecting” Environmental Affairs, have a responsibility for safeguarding the the whole of society, some of its constituent Indiana University– domestic well-being of the public, and this parts, meaning its citizens, may be injured. Indianapolis. obligation even extends in qualified ways to Third, there is the political irony that police, protecting those who violate the law, who are who stand apart from society in terms of au- antagonistic or violent toward the police, or thority, law, and responsibility, also are part who are intent on hurting themselves. In of society and act on its behalf. Thus, rogue dealing with such individuals, police may actions by a few police, if condoned by the use force in reasonable and prudent ways to public, may become perceived as actions of protect themselves and others. However, the the citizenry. amount of force used should be proportional Recent developments in policing have el- to the threat and limited to the least amount evated concerns about police use of force required to accomplish legitimate police beyond ordinarily high levels. In particular, action. community policing, which is becoming wide- Third, the concept of participation empha- spread as a result of financial incentives by sizes that police and community are closely the Federal Government, and “aggressive” interrelated. Police are drawn from the policing, which is becoming widely adopted community, and as police they continue to as a solution to serious crime problems, have

1 Use of Force by Police

come to the fore as perspectives of choice Use-of-force concerns also are reflected in by policing experts. Community policing the attention the media give to possible emphasizes the role of the community as instances of police abuse. An accumulation “coproducers” of law and order in conjunction of alleged abuse-of-force incidents, widely with the police. Communities naturally vary reported in the media, encourages over- in attributes, and they vary in how they are generalization by giving the impression that defined for the purposes of community polic- police brutality is rampant and that police ing. Consequently, some communities look to departments across the Nation are out of add restrictions on police use of force, while control. For example, Human Rights Watch others are satisfied with the status quo, and states, “Allegations of police abuse are rife in still others seek to ease current restrictions. cities throughout the country and take many Regardless of the community’s orientation forms.”3 on this issue, community policing means in- Before considering the details of recent creased levels of accountability and respon- research efforts on police use of force, it is siveness in key areas, such as use of force. useful to summarize the state of our knowl- Increased accountability hinges on new in- edge.4 We know some details about police formation, and new information stimulates use of force with a high degree of certainty. debate. These items represent “facts” that should The other emerging perspective is “aggres- frame our understanding of the issues. Other sive” policing, which often falls under the details about police use of force we know in rubric of broken windows theory, and, as a sketchy ways, or the research is contradic- strategic matter, is concerned with intensify- tory. These items should be subject to addi- ing enforcement against quality-of-life and tional research using more refined methods order maintenance offenses. The influence of of inquiry. Finally, there are some aspects of aggressive policing can be seen in the prolif- police use of force about which we know very eration of “zero tolerance” enforcement strat- little or next to nothing. These items repre- egies across the Nation. The concern is that sent critical directions for new inquiry. the threat posed by petty offenders may be As is often the case with important policy exaggerated to the point that use of force questions, the information that we are most becomes more commonplace and abuses of confident of is of limited value. In many force more frequent. cases, it does not tell us what we really need The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce- to know, because it does not focus squarely ment Act of 1994 mirrored congressional on the important issues or is subject to concern about excessive force by authorizing competing interpretations. Conversely, the the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Depart- information that is most critical for policy ment of Justice (DOJ) to initiate civil actions decisions often is not available or is very dif- against police agencies when, among other ficult to obtain. Such is the case with police conduct, their use of force reaches a level con- use of force. The issues that most concern stituting a pattern or practice depriving indi- the public and policymakers lack the kinds viduals of their rights. DOJ exercised that of reliable and solid information that ad- authority when, for example, it determined vance debate from the realm of ideological that an urban police department engaged in posturing to objective analysis. Nonetheless, such conduct and negotiated a consent decree it is important to take stock of our knowl- that put in place a broad set of reforms, in- edge so that it is clear which issues can be cluding an agreement by the department to set aside and which should be the target of document its use of force and to implement efforts at obtaining new knowledge. an early warning system to detect possible abuses.2

2 Chapter 1: What We Know About Police Use of Force

What, then, is the state of knowledge regard- police-public “interactions,” such as calls for ing police use of force? We begin with issues service, which capture variegated requests about which we have considerable informa- for assistance, lead to low rates of use of tion and a high degree of confidence in our force. Conversely, narrow definitions of knowledge. Discussed next are issues where police-public interactions, such as arrests, knowledge is modest and considerably more which concentrate squarely on suspects, lead research is merited. Finally, we conclude to higher rates of use of force. with issues that are critical to debates over The International Association of Chiefs of police use of force and about which little Police (IACP) is in the process of compiling knowledge exists. statistics on use-of-force data being submit- ted by cooperating agencies (see chapter 3). What We Know With Substantial These data indicate that force is used in Confidence About Police less than one-half of 1 percent of dispatched Use of Force calls for service. From this point of view, one might well consider police use of force a rare Police use force infrequently. event. This figure is roughly consistent with Whether measured by use-of-force reports, the preliminary estimate reported by BJS, citizen complaints, victim surveys, or obser- although the IACP figure is subject to the vational methods, the data consistently reporting biases that may exist in police indicate that only a small percentage of agency data. Furthermore, IACP data are police-public interactions involve the use not yet representative of the national picture of force. As Bayley and Garofalo observed, because of selection bias; the estimate is “Thus, the Commission police-citizen encounters that involve use of based on a small percentage of police depart- concludes that factors force and injury are “quite rare.”5 ments that voluntarily report information on substantially contributing use of force. Because there is no standard methodology to misperceptions about for measuring use of force, estimates can Garner and Maxwell found that physical use of physical and vary considerably on strictly computational force (excluding handcuffing) is used in deadly force by law grounds. Different definitions of force and fewer than one of five adult custody arrests enforcement officers different definitions of police-public interac- (see chapter 4). While this figure hardly include...[f]ailure to ap- tions will yield different rates6 (see sidebar qualifies as a rare event, it can be considered preciate the relative infre- “Working definitions”). In particular, broad low, especially in light of the broad definition quent use of physical and definitions of use of force, such as those that of force that was used. deadly force by law en- include grabbing or handcuffing a suspect, In characterizing police use of force as infre- forcement personnel....” will produce higher rates than more conser- quent or rare, the intention is neither to —New York State Com- vative definitions. The Bureau of Justice minimize the problem nor to suggest that mission on Criminal Jus- Statistics’ (BJS) 1996 pretest of its Police- the issue can be dismissed as unworthy of tice and the Use of Force, Public Contact Survey resulted in prelimi- serious attention. Society’s ends are best Report to the Governor, nary estimates that nearly 45 million people achieved peaceably, and we should strive to Vol. 1, New York: New had face-to-face contact with police over a minimize the use of force by police as much York State Commission 12-month period and that approximately as possible. However, it is important to put on Criminal Justice 1 percent, or about 500,000 of these persons, police use of force in context in order to un- and the Use of Force, were subjected to use of force or threat of derstand the potential magnitude of use-of- May 1987: 6. 7 force (see chapter 2). When handcuffing is force problems. Although estimates may not included in the BJS definition of force, the completely reassure everyone that police are number of persons increases to 1.2 million. doing everything they can to minimize the Expanding and contracting definitions of use of force, the data do not support the “police-public” interactions also work to af- notion that we have a national epidemic of fect use-of-force rates but in an opposite way police violence. from definitions of force. Broad definitions of

3 Use of Force by Police

Another purpose for emphasizing the infre- derived from such a small number of respon- quent nature of police use of force is to high- dents are subject to a wide margin of error. light the methodological challenges of trying This issue is particularly important if one to count or study infrequent events. In this is interested in tracking changes over time, regard, methodological approaches can because a very small change in reporting can vary considerably in terms of cost efficiency, have a very large impact on estimates. In the reliability, and precision of information ob- survey’s continuing development, the next tained. In BJS’s 1996 pilot household survey pilot test will use a sample about 10 times of 6,421 persons, 14 respondents, or roughly the size of the 1996 pilot test as well as 1 in 450, said that they were subjected to involve a redesigned questionnaire. use of force or threat of force by police over a Police use of force typically occurs at the year’s time. The household survey approach lower end of the force spectrum, involv- has the benefit of providing national-level ing grabbing, pushing, or shoving. estimates based on data that are free of police agency reporting biases. However, as Relatively minor types of force dominate noted by BJS, the preliminary estimates statistics on police use of force. Garner and

Working definitions Police use of force is characterized in a va- Reference also is made to “excessive use riety of ways. Sometimes, these character- of force,” a similar, but distinctly different, izations are functionally interchangeable term. Excessive use of force refers to high so that one can be substituted for another rates of force, which suggest that police are without doing injustice to the factual inter- using force too freely when viewed in the pretation of a statement. At other times, aggregate. The term deals with relative however, differences in terminology can be comparisons among police agencies, very consequential to a statement’s mean- and there are no established criteria for ing. For example, “deadly force” refers to judgment. situations in which force is likely to have “Illegal” use of force refers to situations in lethal consequences for the victim. This which use of force by police violated a law type of force is clearly defined and should or statute, generally as determined by a not be confused with other types of force judge or magistrate. The criteria for judg- that police use. ing illegal use of force are fairly well In contrast, “police brutality” is a phrase established. used to describe instances of serious “Improper,” “abusive,” “illegitimate,” and physical or psychological harm to civilians, “unnecessary” use of force are terms that with an emphasis on cruelty or savage- describe situations in which an officer’s ness. The term does not have a standard- authority to use force has been mishandled ized meaning; some commentators prefer in some general way, the suggestion being to use a less emotionally charged term. that administrative procedure, societal ex- In this report, the term “excessive force” is pectations, ordinary concepts of lawfulness, used to describe situations in which more and the principle of last resort have been force is used than is allowable when judged violated, respectively. Criteria for judging in terms of administrative or professional these violations are not well established. guidelines or legal standards. Criteria for To varying degrees, all of the above terms judging excessive force are fairly well es- can be described as transgressions of tablished. The term may also include within police authority to use force. its meaning the concept of illegal force.

4 Chapter 1: What We Know About Police Use of Force

Maxwell (see chapter 4) observed that police most frequently used (1.2 percent of arrests), use weaponless tactics in roughly 80 percent while firearms were the weapons least often of use-of-force incidents and that half the used (0.2 percent of arrests). Most police time the tactic involved grabbing the sus- departments collect statistics on all firearm pect. Alpert and Dunham (see chapter 5) discharges by officers. These data consis- found that in Miami 64 percent of use-of- tently show that the majority of discharges force incidents involved grabbing or holding are accidental or are directed at animals. the suspect. In the BJS pilot national survey, Only on infrequent occasions do police use it was estimated, preliminarily, that about their firearms against the public. One impli- 500,000 people were “hit, held, pushed, cation of these findings is that increased choked, threatened with a flashlight, re- training in how to use standard police weap- strained by a police dog, threatened with or ons will be of little value in dealing with day- actually sprayed with chemical or pepper to-day situations that involve use of force. spray, threatened with a gun, or experienced Training, if it is to be effective in reducing some other form of force.”8 Three-fifths of the use of force, needs to focus on how to these situations, however, involved only gain compliance without resorting to physi- holding. Finally, Pate and Fridell’s survey of cal coercion. law enforcement agencies regarding use of Use of force typically occurs when police force and civilian complaints also confirms are trying to make an arrest and the that minor types of force occur more fre- suspect is resisting. quently than serious types.9 “The first tactic used in Research indicates that police are most an incident is nearly al- As a corollary finding, when injuries occur as likely to use force when pursuing a suspect ways the least severe use a result of use of force, they are likely to be and attempting to exercise their arrest pow- of force on the continuum, relatively minor. Alpert and Dunham (see ers. Furthermore, resistance by the public and the second…is nearly chapter 5) observed that the most common increases the likelihood that police will always the second-most injury to a suspect was a bruise or abrasion use force. These findings appear intuitively lenient.” —Alpert and (48 percent), followed by laceration (24 per- sound given the mandate that police have Dunham, page 48 of this cent). The kinds of police actions that most regarding use of force. Police may use force report. captivate the public’s concerns, such as fatal when it is necessary to enforce the law or to shootings, severe beatings with fists or ba- protect themselves or others from harm. The tons that lead to hospitalization, and choke findings also seem logical in view of police holds that cause unconsciousness or even training curriculums and departmental death, are not typical of situations in which regulations. Alpert and Dunham (see chap- police use force. These findings reassure us ter 5) find that police almost always follow that most police exercise restraint in the use the prescribed sequence of control proce- of force, even if one has concerns over the dures they are taught, except when suspect number of times that police resort to serious resistance is high, in which case they tend to violence. skip the intermediate procedure. From a police administrator’s point of view, The conclusion that police are most likely to these findings are predictable. Officers are use force when dealing with criminal sus- trained to use force progressively along a pects, especially those who are resisting continuum, and policy requires that officers arrest, is based on four types of data: arrest use the least amount of force necessary to statistics, surveys of police officers, observa- accomplish their goals. tions of police behavior, and reports by the Another affiliated finding is that police public about their encounters with police. rarely use weapons. According to Garner and Arrest statistics show that resisting-arrest Maxwell (see chapter 4), 2.1 percent of adult charges often are involved in situations in custody arrests involved use of weapons by which officers use force. The interpretation police. Chemical agents were the weapons

5 Use of Force by Police

of this finding is ambiguous, however, be- arrests involved use of force by police, 14 cause officers may bring such charges in an percent of arrests involved use of force by attempt to justify their actions against a suspects. Police officers in Phoenix com- suspect. Some commentators even would ar- pleted a use-of-force survey after each arrest gue that resisting-arrest charges are a good to generate these data. indication that police officers acted inappro- Finally, Bayley and Garofalo tallied 36 in- priately or illegally. Because we are relying stances of force used by police or suspects on official reports by officers who are in- out of 467 police-public encounters observed volved in use-of-force incidents, and because firsthand by researchers.12 They found that they have self-interest in presenting the in 31 incidents police used force against sus- situation in the most favorable light possible, pects and in 11 incidents suspects used force we cannot rely on arrest records alone in against police. determining what happened. One implication of the research is that the Fortunately, other research is available to decision to use some level of force probably help clarify the situation. The pilot national has legal justification in most cases. Force is household survey by BJS included a series of likely to be used when suspects resist arrest questions about the respondent’s behavior and attempt to flee. Also, in a significant during contact with police.10 The preliminary number of instances, suspects use force analysis revealed that of the 14 respondents against the police. These findings leave open in the sample who reported that police used the issue of excessive force, since issues of or threatened force against them, 10 sug- proportionality are not clearly addressed. gested that they might have provoked the However, the findings do suggest that many officer to use force. The provocative behav- debates over excessive force will fall into iors reported by suspects include threaten- gray areas where it is difficult to decide ing the officer, assaulting the officer, arguing whether an officer acted properly, because with the officer, interfering with the arrest of there is credible evidence that the use of someone else, blocking or interfering with an force was necessary. officer’s movement, trying to escape, resist- ing being handcuffed, and resisting being placed in a police vehicle. What We Know With Modest Confidence About Police Use Research by Alpert and Dunham (see chap- Regarding suspect force ter 5) confirms that criminal suspects are of Force as a consistent predictor not always cooperative when it comes to Use of force appears to be unrelated to of police use of force: “This arrest. In almost all (97 percent) cases in an officer’s personal characteristics, remained true when con- which police officers used force in a Florida such as age, gender, and ethnicity. trolling for the possibility jurisdiction, the suspect offered some degree that some suspect use of of resistance. In 36 percent of use-of-force A small number of studies suggest that use force could be a incidents, the suspect actively resisted ar- of force by police is not associated with per- reaction to police use of rest, and in one-quarter of the incidents the sonal characteristics, such as age, gender, force.” —Garner, et al. (see suspect assaulted the officer. The research- and ethnicity. Bayley and Garofalo concluded note 11). ers observed that the most common type of that use of force is not related to age, al- 13 suspect force was hitting or striking a police though it may be related to experience. officer (44 percent). Worden, in an analysis of observational data on 24 police departments in 3 metropolitan Garner and colleagues, after using statistical areas, concluded that the personal character- controls for more than 50 characteristics of istics of police officers do not have a substan- the arrest situation, the suspect, and the po- tively significant effect on use of force.14 lice officer, found that forceful action by sus- pects was the strongest and most consistent Likewise, Garner and colleagues reported predictor of use of force by police.11 Further- that the race of suspect and officer is not 15 more, they found that while 22 percent of predictive of use of force. However, they

6 Chapter 1: What We Know About Police Use of Force found that incidents involving male police against suspects of their own race. The lack of officers and male suspects are more likely to relationship between race and use of force, as involve force. Alpert and Dunham (see chap- well as between gender and use of force, is ter 5) found that officer characteristics are of probably disheartening to those who argue little utility in distinguishing between force that integration of police agencies along ra- and nonforce incidents. cial and gender lines will do much to reduce the incidence of police violence. Again, more Hence, gender and ethnicity appear unre- research is needed to understand the situa- lated to use of force. Given the limited re- tion of minority and female police officers search in this area, these conclusions should with regard to their use of force. be accepted with caution and additional veri- fication of these findings is needed. Use of force is more likely to occur when police are dealing with persons under It is widely accepted in criminology that the influence of alcohol or drugs or with violence, along with a wide variety of other mentally ill individuals. More research risk-taking and norm-violating behaviors, is is needed. a young man’s game. Thus, we should expect that young, male police officers should use Police come across a wide variety of situa- force more than their female colleagues or tions in their work. They encounter problems older officers. The fact that this is not clearly that range from relatively minor to serious the case seems surprising. to potentially deadly. They also interact with people exhibiting various mental states, in- A lack of relationship between age and gen- cluding persons who are hysterical, highly der, on the one hand, and use of force, on the agitated, angry, disoriented, upset, worried, other, may be a function of police hiring and irritated, or calm. deployment practices. Retirement plans keep the age of police officers lower than that of Two situations that often give police officers most other occupations, and seniority, which cause for concern are when suspects appear is derivative of work experience, often brings to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs more choice in work assignments, including and when civilians appear to suffer from duties that limit one’s contact with criminal serious mental or emotional impairments. suspects on the street. Both these tendencies The concern stems from the fact that in such serve to constrain variation in the age of situations a person’s rational faculties ap- “Suspects reported as police officers who are exposed to potentially pear impaired. In dealing with problem situ- impaired were more than violent situations. This may attenuate the ations, officers most often talk their way, twice as likely than sober relationship between age and use of force. rather than force their way, into solutions. suspects to use a gun to However, it is equally plausible that young For this reason, when a civilian is in a highly resist the police.” —Alpert male officers are assigned to high-crime irrational state of mind, the chances of the and Dunham, page 51 of areas where frequent use of force is neces- police officer having to use force presumably this report. sary to gain compliance. Finally, it is possible increase and the possibility of injury to both that exposure to the police culture works to officer and civilian increases as well. encourage the use of force, thus counterbal- Research carried out for the President’s ancing the decline in aggressivity that comes Commission on Law Enforcement and Ad- with age as demonstrated in criminological ministration of Justice observed that alcohol studies. More research is needed to disen- use by either a suspect or an officer in- tangle these relationships. creased the chances that force will be used.16 The finding that an officer’s race is unrelated Garner and colleagues found that alcohol to the propensity to use force runs counter to impairment by suspects was a consistent the argument that racial animosity lies at predictor of police use of force, while drug the heart of police abuse. Indeed, Alpert and impairment predicted increased use of force Dunham’s research (see chapter 5) indicates for some but not all measures of use of that officers are more likely to use force force.17 In contrast, Alpert and Dunham (see

7 Use of Force by Police

chapter 5) observed that alcohol or drug im- We often are told that a small number of pairment of suspects was unrelated to police people are responsible for most of the pro- use of force or subsequent injury. That find- ductive or counterproductive work in an or- ing is interesting because, although im- ganization. For example, we hear about the paired civilians did not demonstrate an 80/20 rule in organizational management. increased propensity to resist an officer’s That is, 20 percent of the workers account actions, when they did resist they were more for 80 percent of the work. Policing has its inclined to do so by actively resisting or as- counterpart explanation for deviant or ille- saulting the officer. gal behavior. It is called the rotten apple or Part of the disparity in findings between the rogue officer theory, and it is often used to President’s Commission’s research and more explain police corruption. Recently, a varia- recent studies may be attributed to the fact tion of this theory has become the principal that police officers today are better trained explanation for use-of-force problems in po- in how to deal with impaired civilians. Most lice departments. In this context, we speak of police officers now receive training in a vari- “violence prone” police officers and we point ety of violence reduction techniques, and this to these individuals as the reason why a development is partly attributable to con- department has problems with the use of 18 cerns over the President’s Commission’s force. findings and over the frequency with which People with extraordinary work perfor- police now are called to respond to large- mance, either good or bad, are noticeable scale violence, such as riots. when compared with their colleagues, and Questions about how police deal with civil- their salience leads us to think that their ians who appear to have impaired mental work is highly consequential to the good for- states are important from administrative tunes or misfortunes of an organization. The and practical points of view. Police officers utility of this perspective for police manag- are expected to exercise restraint in dealing ers attempting to deal with illegitimate use with impaired civilians, while at the same of force lies in the presumed concentration of time they need to be cautious about protect- problem behaviors in the work force. If only ing their safety as well as the safety of other a handful of police officers accounts for most civilians. This puts them in a precarious of the abuses, then effective solutions tar- situation, one in which mistakes of judgment geted at those individuals should deal with or tactics can have grave consequences. the problem. The nature of the solution, be it employee selection, training, oversight, or From a practical standpoint, police regularly discipline, is less important than its degree encounter civilians with impaired mental of effectiveness and its ability to be directed states, which makes the problem more than at the problem group of employees. academic. Alpert and Dunham (see chapter 5) found that in 42 percent of use-of-force The Christopher Commission, which investi- situations, suspects appeared to be under gated the Los Angeles Police Department the influence of alcohol or drugs. Overall, the subsequent to the Rodney King incident, 19 research on whether police use force more highlighted the “violence prone” officer theory. frequently in relation to civilians with im- The Commission, using the department’s paired mental states is inconsistent. Further database, identified 44 officers with 6 or more investigation, with an emphasis on implica- civilian allegations of excessive force or im- tions for training, could reduce the risk of proper tactics in the period 1986 through force and injury for both police officers and 1990. For the 44, the per-officer average for civilians. force-related complaints was 7.6 compared with 0.6 for all officers identified as having A small proportion of officers are dis- been involved in a use-of-force incident for the proportionately involved in use-of-force period January 1987 through March 1991. The incidents. More research is needed. 44 officers were involved in an average of 13

8 Chapter 1: What We Know About Police Use of Force use-of-force incidents compared with 4.2 for For example, an officer’s work assignment all officers reported to be using force. may involve a high-crime area that contains a high proportion of rebellious offenders. Put another way, less than one-half of Also, divisive, dehumanizing views of the 1 percent of the department’s sworn officers world, such as “us-them” and “good guy-bad accounted for more than 15 percent of alle- guy,” that facilitate violent behavior may be gations of excessive force or improper tac- supported by the organizational culture. tics. The degree of disproportion (30:1) is Further, administrative views of work roles striking and suggests that focusing efforts and products, communicated formally or on a handful of officers can eliminate informally, that emphasize crime control roughly 1 out of 7 excessive force incidents. through aggressive police behavior may This finding has led many police depart- encourage confrontational tactics that in- ments to implement early warning systems crease the chances of violent behavior by designed to identify high-risk officers before either civilian or police officer. Unless the they become major problems. Most of these reasons for violence propensity are accu- systems use administrative records, such as rately identified, the effectiveness of inter- disciplinary records and citizen complaints, ventions targeted at violent police officers is to monitor officer performance for possible a hit-or-miss proposition. problems. Of the 44 officers identified by the Christo- The concept of an early warning system for pher Commission in 1991, 14 subsequently “...a significant number of risk management of problem police officers is left the department as of October 1997. Of officers...repetitively mis- not new. In the early 1980s, a report on police the 30 remaining officers, two had a use-of- use force and persistently practices by the United States Commission force complaint that was sustained after ignore the written policies on Civil Rights found that “‘(e)arly warning’ review between 1991 and 1997.23 This low and guidelines of the De- information systems may assist the depart- number may be due to a variety of reasons, partment regarding force. ment in identifying violence-prone officers.”20 such as difficulties in sustaining citizen By their misconduct, this Consequently, it was recommended that “(a) complaints, reassignment of work duties, group of officers tarnishes system should be devised in each department negative publicity leading to a change in the reputations of the vast to assist officials in early identification of behavior, or greater circumspection when majority of LAPD officers violence-prone officers.”21 engaging in misconduct. However, the find- who do their increasingly Until recently, these systems received limited ing also may reflect regression to the mean. difficult job of policing acceptance, owing in part to concerns over This is a statistical phenomenon postulat- the City with courage, possible abuses. The abuses include use of ing that extreme scores gravitate toward skill, and judgment.” — inaccurate information, improper labeling the mean or average score, thereby becom- Independent Commission of officers, misuse of confidential records ing less extreme over time. on the Los Angeles Police regarding discipline and other personnel Department, Report of the For example, groups of police officers who matters, and social ostracism by peers and Independent Commission receive many citizen complaints, or who are community for officers identified as problem- on the Los Angeles Police disproportionately involved in the use of atic. There also were concerns about limited Department, Los Angeles, force, or who frequently are given poor resources and about increased legal liability CA: Independent Com- performance ratings, will tend to become for the organization and individual officers. mission on the Los Ange- “better” over time, in the sense of statisti- les Police Department, As Toch observes, the violence-prone officer cally looking more like the “average” 1991: 31. paradigm often is based on a variety of officers, even if nothing is done about these loosely articulated theories of violent behav- problems. Statistical regression represents ior.22 The theories include concepts such as a serious threat to the validity of early racial prejudice, poor self-control, and ego warning systems based on the assumption involvement. Furthermore, these theories that extreme patterns of behavior persist often overlook the possibility that greater- over extended periods of time. than-average use of force may be a product of situational or organizational characteristics.

9 Use of Force by Police

What We Do Not Know About involving use of force, and that only a hand- Police Use of Force ful of these complaints are sustained. The argument has appeal. We believe that The incidence of wrongful use of force the vast majority of police officers are profes- by police is unknown. Research is criti- sionals who respect the law and the public. If cally needed to determine reliably, use of force is uncommon, civilian complaints validly, and precisely how often trans- are infrequent, and civilian injuries are few, gressions of use-of-force powers occur. then excessive force by police must be rare. We do not know how often police use force in That conclusion may indeed be correct, but ways that can be adjudged as wrongful. For to the extent that it hinges on official police example, we do not know the incidence of statistics, it is open to serious challenge. excessive force, even though this is a very Current indicators of excessive force are all serious violation of public trust. We could critically flawed. The most widely available pull together data on excessive force using indicators are civilian complaints of exces- police disciplinary records and court docu- sive force and civil lawsuits alleging illegal ments, for example, but the picture would be use of force. Civilian complaints of excessive sketchy, piecemeal, and potentially deceiving. force are infrequent, and the number of sub- When it comes to less grave or less precise stantiated complaints is very low. These fig- transgressions, such as “improper,” “abusive,” ures are consistent with the argument that “illegitimate,” and “unnecessary” use of excessive force is sporadic. However, com- force, the state of knowledge is even more plaint mechanisms are subject to selection precarious. and reporting biases, and the operation of In discussing this issue, we will concen- complaint systems, which typically is man- trate on excessive force, because these aged by police, wields considerable influence transgressions are of utmost concern to the on whether people will come forward to public and because well-established profes- complain. sional and legal criteria are available to Civil lawsuits against police are exceedingly help us evaluate police behavior. Notwith- rare relative to the number of times that standing a generally agreed-upon terminol- police use force. Because the legal process is ogy, we should recognize that developing a highly selective in terms of which claims get count of excessive force that is beyond all litigated, lawsuits are a very unreliable mea- dispute is an unworkable task. This is so sure of illegal use of force. With both civilian because difficult judgments are involved in complaints and lawsuits, small changes in deciding whether use of force fits the crite- administrative practices can have a large ria for these categories in a given situation, impact on the magnitude of the problem and reasonable people will disagree in such measured in these ways. judgments. We clearly need more accurate, reliable, and valid measures of excessive The difficulties in measuring excessive and force if we are to advance our understand- illegal force with complaint and lawsuit ing of these problems. records have led academics and practitioners to redirect their attention to all use-of-force Academics and practitioners both tend to incidents. The focus then becomes one of presuppose that the incidence of excessive minimizing all instances of police use of force by police is very low. They argue that, force, without undue concern as to whether despite their shortcomings, agency statistics force was excessive. From this perspective, provide a useful picture of the use-of-force other records, such as use-of-force reports, problem. These statistics show that most arrest records, injury reports, and medical officers do not engage in force on a regular records, become relevant to measuring the basis, that few people are injured by police incidence of the problem. use of force, that only a small number of people complain about police misconduct

10 Chapter 1: What We Know About Police Use of Force

From a theoretical perspective, understand- organization is on the road toward disaster. ing all use-of-force incidents helps us to put Yet, we lack research that systematically wrongful use of force in perspective. How- addresses these questions. ever, because political, legal, and ethical Less formal aspects of police organizations— issues are very serious when we are dealing officer morale, administrative leadership, with excessive force, pressures to know the peer culture and influence, police-community incidence and prevalence of these events relations, relations with other government with precision will always be present. agencies, and neighborhood environments— As a corollary of our current inability to also plausibly have a part in levels of officer measure excessive force, we cannot discern misconduct. Alienated officers who do not with precision changes in the incidence of have a clear vision of their role and responsi- these events over time and across places. bilities and who are working in disorganized This means that we can neither determine agencies and interacting with the public whether excessive force problems are under stressful circumstances probably are getting better or worse nor determine the more likely to abuse their authority, includ- circumstances under which those problems ing their authority to use force. Research are more or less severe. that systematically addresses these ques- tions is lacking. The impact of differences in police orga- nizations, including administrative Methodological investigation of relations policies, hiring, training, discipline, between organizational elements and use-of- and use of technology, on excessive and force transgressions will help explain police illegal force is unknown. Research is misconduct at a theoretical level. More im- critically needed in this area. portantly, research on these questions will allow us to deal effectively with police misbe- A major gap in our knowledge about exces- havior. Faced with serious misconduct prob- sive force by police concerns characteristics lems in a police agency, we need to focus of police agencies that facilitate or impede scarce resources on those aspects of police this conduct. Although many of the condi- organizations that are most clearly related to tions that arguably lead to excessive or ille- ensuring proper conduct of officers with re- gal force by police seem obvious, or appear to gard to use of force. Generalized efforts to be a matter of common sense, we still greatly reform police organizations that are expected need systematic research in this area. We to reduce misconduct problems tend to be need to know, for example, which organiza- inefficiently focused and thus appear clumsy, tional characteristics are most consequen- inadequate, and misinformed. tial, which characteristics take on added significance in various environments, and Research must focus on establishing the which characteristics are redundant or relative cost-effectiveness of various strate- derivative of other characteristics. gies to reduce or eliminate police misconduct. Furthermore, only strategies that are solidly Many formal aspects of the organization— grounded in theory, practice, and empirical such as hiring criteria, recruit training, in- research will provide reliable solutions with service programs, supervision of field officers, predictable costs and benefits. disciplinary mechanisms, operations of inter- nal affairs, specialized units dealing with eth- Influences of situational characteristics ics and integrity, labor unions, and civilian on police use of force and the transac- oversight mechanisms—plausibly are related tional nature of these events are largely to levels of officer misconduct. It makes sense unknown. More research is necessary. that poorly educated, badly trained, loosely Research on police-citizen encounters reveals supervised, and inadequately disciplined of- that use of force by police is situational and ficers are likely to be problematic, and that transactional. That is, police respond to when such officers are in the majority, the

11 Use of Force by Police

circumstances as they first encounter them or when there is a hostile audience to the and as they unfold over time. For example, encounter. At this point, however, knowledge Bayley and Garofalo observed that the situa- about the types of police-citizen encounters tions most likely to involve police use of force in which police are likely to use force is are interpersonal disturbance and violent rudimentary. personal crime.24 Beyond this, however, we do not know much about the types of events Police-public encounters are transactional in that enhance the likelihood that police will the sense that all the actors in a situation use force. contribute in some way to its development and outcome. Understanding the transac- Similarly, we have noted that when suspects tional nature of police use of force is impor- attempt to flee or physically resist arrest tant because it emphasizes the role of police police are more likely to use force. We also actions in increasing the chances that force noted that in many cases both police and will be used. suspects use force against each other. However, these findings do not address the From this perspective, it is possible to transactional nature of police-public encoun- minimize the use of force by modifying the ters in that they do not describe the step-by- behavior and tactics of police officers. By step unfolding of events and interactions. understanding the sequences of events that Knowing that police use force if suspects lead police to use force, we can gain a greater physically resist arrest, it matters if police degree of control over those situations and use force without provocation and the sus- possibly redirect the outcome. But we have pect responds by resisting or vice versa. only a basic understanding of the transac- tional nature of use-of-force situations, de- A variety of situational elements plausibly spite the fact that sequences of actions and are related to police use of force. If police are interactions are highly germane to determin- called to a scene where there is fighting, they ing whether use of force was excessive or may have to or believe they have to use force illegal. to subdue the suspects. If they are called to a domestic dispute where emotions are run- Organization of the Report ning high, they may have to or believe they have to use force to gain control of the situa- The next four chapters of this report focus tion. If they are called to intercede with a on major research studies dealing with po- civilian who is recklessly brandishing a lice use of force. They represent significant weapon, they may have to or believe they projects currently under way to understand have to use force to protect themselves and police use of force. others. Use of force in such circumstances Two of the projects are attempts at measur- may be justifiable, but to the extent that it is ing the incidence of police use of force na- predictable, we can prepare officers for these tionwide. BJS has developed a national-level encounters and devise alternative strategies data collection effort using a household sur- that minimize or eliminate the use of force. vey methodology to investigate police-public Some situational factors may increase the interactions, with a component on use-of- chances that force of questionable legitimacy force issues (see chapter 2). IACP is collect- will be used. For example, officers sometimes ing data on police use of force through a use force on the slightest provocation follow- voluntary reporting system (see chapter 3). ing a high-speed car chase, when adrenaline Two other projects on police use of force in- levels are high. They may use force more fre- volve citywide investigations across several quently when they are alone, because they locations. Chapter 4 reports on research in feel more vulnerable or believe that they can six jurisdictions; the research is important get away with it. They may use force more because it identifies factors associated with frequently as a way of emphasizing their use of force and because it addresses difficult authority when suspects are disrespectful

12 Chapter 1: What We Know About Police Use of Force measurement issues. Focusing on three po- 6. Adams, Kenneth, “Measuring the Preva- lice agencies, chapter 5 discusses research lence of Police Abuse of Force,” in And that centers on the use of force by both police Justice For All: A National Agenda for Un- and suspects; the research is important derstanding and Controlling Police Abuse of because it contributes significantly to under- Force, ed. William A. Geller and Hans Toch, standing the transactional nature of police- Washington, DC: Police Executive Research citizen encounters. Forum, 1995: 61–97. The final chapter outlines suggested direc- 7. Greenfeld, Lawrence A., Patrick A. tions for future research. A selected bibliog- Langan, and Steven K. Smith, Police Use of raphy concludes this report. Force: Collection of National Data, Washing- ton, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau Notes of Justice Statistics and National Institute of Justice, November 1997, NCJ 165040. 1. Bierce, Ambrose, The Devil’s Dictionary, New York: Dover, 1958: 101. 8. Ibid. 2. “Justice Department Consent Decree 9. Pate, Anthony M., and Lorie A. Fridell, Pushes Police to Overhaul Operations,” with Edwin E. Hamilton, Police Use of Force: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 1, 1998, C–1. Official Reports, Citizen Complaints, and Le- gal Consequences, Vols. I and II, Washington, 3. Based on an investigation in 14 cities, DC: The Police Foundation, 1993. Human Rights Watch described the brutality situation as follows: “(p)olice officers engage 10. Greenfeld, Lawrence A., Patrick A. in unjustified shootings, severe beatings, Langan, and Steven K. Smith, Police Use of fatal chokings, and unnecessarily rough Force: Collection of National Data. physical treatment in cities throughout the 11. Garner, Joel, John Buchanan, Tom United States, while their police superiors, Schade, and John Hepburn, Understanding city officials and the Justice Department fail Use of Force By and Against the Police, to act decisively to restrain or penalize such Research in Brief, Washington, DC: U.S. acts or even to record the full magnitude Department of Justice, National Institute of the problem.” Human Rights Watch, of Justice, November 1996, NCJ 158614. Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States, New 12. Bayley, David H., and James Garofalo, York: Human Rights Watch, 1998: 1, 27. “The Management of Violence by Police Patrol Officers”; and Bayley, David H., and 4. A previous summary of research on police James Garofalo, “Patrol Officer Effectiveness use of force can be found in McEwen, Tom, in Managing Conflict During Police-Citizen National Data Collection on Police Use of Encounters.” Force, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics and 13. Ibid. National Institute of Justice, April 1996, 14. Worden, Robert, “The ‘Causes’ of Police NCJ 160113. Brutality,” in And Justice For All: A National 5. Bayley, David H., and James Garofalo, Agenda for Understanding and Controlling “The Management of Violence by Police Police Abuse of Force, 31–60. Patrol Officers,” Criminology, 27(1)(February 15. Garner, Joel, John Buchanan, Tom 1989): 1–27; and Bayley, David H., and Schade, and John Hepburn, Understanding James Garofalo, “Patrol Officer Effectiveness Use of Force By and Against the Police. in Managing Conflict During Police-Citizen Encounters,” in Report to the Governor, 16. Reiss, Albert J., Jr., Studies on Crime and Vol. III, Albany: New York State Commission Law Enforcement in a Major Metropolitan on Criminal Justice and the Use of Force, Area, President’s Commission on Law 1987: B1–88.

13 Use of Force by Police

Enforcement and Administration of Justice, 20. United States Commission on Civil Field Survey No. 3, Washington, DC: U.S. Rights, Who’s Guarding the Guardians? A Government Printing Office, 1967. Report on Police Practices, Washington, DC: United States Commission on Civil Rights, 17. Garner, Joel, John Buchanan, Tom 1981: 159. Schade, and John Hepburn, Understanding Use of Force By and Against the Police. 21. Ibid. 18. Toch, Hans, “The ‘Violence-Prone’ Police 22. Toch, Hans, “The ‘Violence-Prone’ Police Officer,” in And Justice For All: A National Officer,” 112. Agenda for Understanding and Controlling 23. Office of the Inspector General, Los An- Police Abuse of Force, 99–112. geles Police Commission, “Status Update: 19. Independent Commission on the Los An- Management of LAPD High-Risk Officers,” geles Police Department, Report of the Inde- Los Angeles: Los Angeles Police Commission, pendent Commission on the Los Angeles 1997. Police Department, Los Angeles, CA: Inde- 24. Bayley, David, H., and James Garofalo, pendent Commission on the Los Angeles “Patrol Officer Effectiveness in Managing Police Department, 1991. Conflict During Police-Citizen Encounters.”

14 2 Revising and Fielding the Police-Public Contact Survey by Lawrence A. Greenfeld, Patrick A. Langan, and Steven K. Smith

o learn more about police use of force supplements. The NCVS sample consists of T requires an understanding of the rea- all household members age 12 or older resid- sons for and the results of police-public ing in more than 40,000 U.S. households; encounters. As a step toward developing that each household member is interviewed twice understanding, the Bureau of Justice Statis- during a calendar year, resulting in about tics (BJS) fielded a pilot test in 1996 of the 200,000 interviews annually.) Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS). Its pri- The PPCS pilot test involved interviews with mary purpose was to obtain information to 6,421 persons during the 1996 trial period. help guide future development of a final The respondents were asked about their con- Lawrence A. Greenfeld, questionnaire on the topic. This chapter tacts with police during the 12 months prior Patrick A. Langan, Ph.D., briefly reviews the 1996 survey, discusses to the interviews. Respondents interviewed and Steven K. Smith, improvements incorporated into a second in May 1996 were asked about contacts that Ph.D., are statisticians pilot survey, and describes other planned occurred anytime during the period June with the Bureau of Justice BJS efforts to learn more about police-public 1995 to May 1996; those interviewed in June Statistics, a component of encounters. 1996 were asked about contacts between the Office of Justice Pro- July 1995 and June 1996; and interviews in grams within the U.S. First Pilot Test of the Survey July 1996 covered the period from August Department of Justice. Questionnaire 1995 to July 1996. On average, the 12-month reference period included 6 months in 1995 BJS supplemented the National Crime Vic- and 6 in 1996. timization Survey (NCVS) with a pilot test of PPCS during May, June, and July 1996. The Administration of PPCS went smoothly. objective was to collect answers from respon- Among persons who had no contact with po- dents to a series of questions about the na- lice, the interview took 1 minute, on average, ture and consequences of their face-to-face to complete. Among those who had police interactions with police. contact, the interview averaged 10 minutes. (NCVS is based on interviews conducted Findings from the first PPCS were reported with a nationally representative sample of in 1997 in the BJS–National Institute of Jus- U.S. households and has become a highly tice publication Police Use of Force: Collec- useful platform for testing new question- tion of National Data.1 (See sidebar “Selected naires and periodically implementing special findings from the Police-Public Contact

15 Use of Force by Police

Survey.”) The 1996 PPCS was intended as a appropriateness or inappropriateness of pretest of the questionnaire; the survey and police conduct during the contact. its findings were not meant to be viewed as a source of indepth or precise statistics on Contact screen questions police use of force. Rather, survey findings The pretest revealed a number of broad provided empirical information to help categories of types of face-to-face contacts guide future development of an improved that needed encoding on the questionnaire. questionnaire. A number of respondents reporting contacts indicated that their employment brought Second Pilot Test of the Survey them into regular contact with police. This Questionnaire was so for hospital workers, tow-truck driv- ers, and lawyers, among others. In addition, During the first half of 1999, BJS focused on respondents indicated that they had contacts improving the content and administration of with police as the result of appearing in the PPCS questionnaire. Three areas of the court as jurors or witnesses. instrument were improved: items relating to screen questions used to identify whether a A major area for further development of the contact occurred, the type of contact, and screening elements of PPCS relates to traffic Screen questions are circumstances surrounding the contact; the stops. One of the major findings from the designed to determine determination of whether force was used or initial PPCS field test was that many of the quickly at the beginning threatened, the type of force used or threat- face-to-face contacts the public has with po- of an interview whether ened, the circumstances surrounding its use, lice are in connection with traffic stops. They a respondent needs to be and provocative actions by the respondent; may represent an area of potentially argu- asked subsequent ques- and the respondent’s perceptions of the mentative interactions between police and tions. For example, if a respondent had no police contact during the speci- Selected findings from the Police-Public Contact Survey fied period, subsequent questions about the na- In 1996 the Bureau of Justice Statistics • For nearly half of those with contacts, the ture, content, and conse- conducted a pilot test of the Police-Public encounters were initiated by the public. quences of police-public Contact Survey. Although not intended as For just under one-third of persons with encounters would be a source of detailed or precise statistics on contacts, police initiated them. police use of force, the pilot survey did pro- omitted. • Age is an important factor in both the vide preliminary estimates of the preva- frequency and type of police contacts lence of the public’s contact with police, experienced. Young people were the including contacts during which police least likely to initiate contact with police used force. Among the survey’s findings (their contacts most often were police are the following: initiated), while persons age 60 or older • An estimated 44.6 million persons (one in were the most likely to initiate contacts five U.S. residents age 12 or older) had with officers. face-to-face contacts with police officers • About 1 percent of people reporting con- during the prior 12 months. Men, whites, tacts with police indicated that officers and people in their twenties were the used force or threatened force. In the ma- most likely to have those contacts. jority of those instances, respondents said • An estimated 33 percent of residents who that their own actions, such as threatening had contact with police had either asked police or resisting arrest, may have pro- for assistance from officers or provided it voked officers. to them. About 32 percent of those who had contact with police had reported a crime, either as a victim or witness.

16 Chapter 2: Revising and Fielding the Police-Public Contact Survey the public and result in use-of-force inci- Determining whether force was used dents. This is likely to be true especially if The 1996 PPCS asked respondents to indi- such stops are thought to be motivated by cate whether force was threatened, used, or factors not strictly related to law enforce- not used during contacts. BJS replaced this ment purposes. Recent studies in New and substituted a list of police behaviors that Jersey and Maryland suggest that black might have occurred, including threatening motorists may be more likely than others to or restraining respondents during encoun- be stopped by police.2 ters. Handcuffing, considered a standard po- The PPCS questionnaire has been revised lice practice, is listed within the enumerated to capture more detailed information about group of police behaviors and will not be traffic stops, including more about the na- treated in the questionnaire separately from ture and frequency of traffic stops involving other behaviors that might have occurred persons of different races. To gather more during contacts. information on the nature and conse- Paralleling these queries about police behav- quences of traffic stops, BJS has added a ior during contacts are questions about the group of questions to the PPCS. Of particu- respondents’ behavior during encounters to lar interest will be an effort to determine learn about provocative actions that may from respondents what they believe to be have occurred. Such questions will apply to the basis for stops, the reason given by the all respondents, not merely to those indicat- officers for stops, and the content of the ing force had been used. interaction during stops, such as tickets issued, warnings, verbal questioning, Experience with a pat-down or frisking was searches, and arrests. Information gathered asked only of those respondents who indi- from the survey can be used to build on cated that in contacts with the police, they prior research regarding the treatment of believed that they were suspects in a crime. different categories of the populace by the This was too limiting, and BJS has expanded criminal justice system. the use of this item to all respondents. Those traffic stops resulting in handcuffing, Similarly, questions relating to subsequent threats, or use of force will also be identified. criminal charges resulting from contacts For such incidents, new items have been were limited to respondents who believed added to the survey to ascertain potentially that the contacts occurred because police provocative behaviors or drug or alcohol use considered them suspects in a crime. BJS by respondents. will ask such questions of all respondents. Several other modifications to the question- Respondents’ characterizations of incidents naire were needed. For example, existing questions about respondents’ traffic-related The 1996 PPCS asked respondents to contacts with police were modified to deter- characterize whether they believed police mine whether such respondents had been behavior was proper or improper during passengers or drivers. In addition, screen use-of-force incidents. Such a question will questions were added to determine explicitly be asked of all respondents who have police who initiated contact between respondents contact. and police officers. The 1996 questionnaire In addition, the 1996 PPCS did not ask those provided information only on the type of who experienced use of force whether they contact; who initiated it had to be inferred perceived police behavior to have been exces- (e.g., “Received a traffic or parking violation” sive for the circumstances; BJS has added implies the officer initiated the contact). such an item to the next version of the survey.

17 Use of Force by Police

Survey Administration for Second samples of those confined in local jails and Pilot Test prisoners held by State and Federal authori- ties. BJS anticipates introducing new survey BJS and the U.S. Bureau of the Census items that will gather information about began the 1999 pilot test using the revised respondents’ interactions with police during PPCS in July. The fieldwork will continue the arrest preceding their incarceration. through December 1999. This will result in The new items will provide, for the first time, a national sample of respondents about 10 information on the content of those contacts times the size of the first pilot test. Prior to between police and criminals, including the upcoming test, BJS redesigned the ques- the methods by which they were appre- tions as noted above, circulated them for hended, use of force during such events, and comment, and secured Office of Manage- provocative behaviors by known offenders. ment and Budget clearance for the use of the supplement for the full NCVS Notes national sample. 1. Greenfeld, Lawrence A., Patrick A. In addition, BJS and the Bureau of the Langan, and Steven K. Smith, Police Use of Census conducted extensive testing of the Force: Collection of National Data, Washing- revised instrument with volunteer respon- ton, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau dents in the Census Bureau’s Cognitive of Justice Statistics and National Institute of Research Laboratory. Justice, November 1997, NCJ 165040. Additional Efforts to Learn About 2. See Lamberth, John, “Driving While Black: A Statistician Proves That Prejudice Police-Public Encounters Still Rules the Road,” Washington Post, During the next 3 to 5 years, BJS will be August 16, 1998, C1. undertaking the regular periodic surveys conducted among nationally representative

18 3 IACP National Database Project on Police Use of Force by Mark A. Henriquez

ndividual police agencies, law enforcement Basic Concepts Underlying the Project Iorganizations, and some States have long considered collection of use-of-force data as a Essential to creating IACP’s police use-of-force means to better serve their communities and database was the belief that data contribu- to better distinguish between misperception tions should be voluntary and anonymous. and reality of police use-of-force issues. Re- Also of basic importance was that the defini- flecting this, Congress enacted legislation in tion of “police use of force” should reflect opera- 1994 that, among other things, directed the tional realities of modern, street-level law U.S. Attorney General to collect data on police enforcement. use of excessive force. Voluntary and anonymous reports Mark A. Henriquez is In 1995 the Bureau of Justice Statistics Project Coordinator for (BJS) and the National Institute of Justice Police use of force is an extremely sensitive the IACP National Police (NIJ)—components of the Office of Justice issue, in part because agencies and the pub- Use-of-Force Database Programs (OJP) within the U.S. Department lic alike harbor preconceptions and because Project. of Justice (DOJ)—proposed to cofund devel- data and resulting reports could be used or opment of a national use-of-force database interpreted either accurately or inaccurately. by the International Association of Chiefs of For example, the legislation directing the U.S. Police (IACP). One purpose of such a data- Attorney General to “acquire data about the base would be quantification of the extent use of excessive force by law enforcement of- and types of force used by police. ficers” also makes deprivation of civil rights Following approval of first-year funding, initial unlawful as evidenced by “pattern or practice” project activities began in September 1996. Early and allows the Attorney General, through in 1997, NIJ and BJS cofunded the project for civil action, to “obtain appropriate equitable another year. Since early 1998, IACP has been and declaratory relief to eliminate pattern or responsible for all project funding. practice.” Thus, if use-of-force data provided to IACP from the field—whether standing The balance of this chapter discusses basic alone or accompanied by analysis—were concepts underlying IACP’s use-of-force data- associated with individual departments, base project, highlights selected preliminary litigation could result. findings derived from the database, and dis- cusses the future of the project. The chapter’s Under those circumstances, the law enforce- addendum provides details about key ele- ment community would have faced the ments involved in database development. dilemma of being very reluctant to provide

19 Use of Force by Police

use-of-force data, yet realizing that funda- through the software, the team identified a mental elements of modern police service are “street continuum” of force, which consists of pursuit of truth and subordination to the the types of force used by officers on a day- will of the communities that agencies are to-day basis to bring subjects under control. sworn to serve. Therefore, IACP decided that The IACP database consists of data on re- provision of such data would be both volun- ported use of force stemming from police tary and anonymous to promote accurate responses to calls for service, whether or not reporting and overcome potential reluctance those responses resulted in arrests.1 Catego- of agencies to participate. ries of force include the following:

Reflecting operational realities ● Physical force (use of fists, hands, feet, etc.). ● Chemical force (the discharge of Mace, When examined from the perspective of pepper spray, and similar agents). day-to-day law enforcement activities, many previous use-of-force definitions were consid- ● Electronic force (the discharge of Tasers, ered not sufficiently workable or functional stun guns, or other electronic weapons). to be applied nationwide to all jurisdictions ● Impact force (use of batons and the like). and department types for the purposes of the IACP project. Thus, IACP designed the ● Lethal force (firearm discharge of any project from the outset to reflect operational kind). realities of modern, street-level law enforce- Additionally, IACP software enables depart- ment, including the very meaning of “police ments to track various subcategories of force, use of force,” defined as the amount of force such as dog bites, edged weapons, vehicles, required by police to compel compliance by and nail guns. However, the project team an unwilling subject. excluded certain measures of force because The project team developed a unique soft- they were considered to fly in the face of re- ware package to track the basic types of ality and practicality. (See sidebar “Measures force used by officers and suspects in typical of force excluded from the database.”) encounters. On the basis of data submitted

Measures of force excluded from the database IACP’s project team decided to exclude • Routine or voluntary handcuffing of pris- from the database certain measures of oners for transport or during field ques- force that the team considered were too tioning or investigation. broad to allow agency reporting in an ac- • Display or presentation of an officer’s curate and timely fashion or beyond what weapon. police typically perceive or record as appli- cations of force: Although any of the above measures could be and are included in some academic stud- • Presence of a police officer at the ies of police use of force, IACP excluded scene. them from its database to allow creation of a • Presence of a K–9 at the scene. concise, universally accepted, and practi- cally achievable information base on police • Presence of chemical or electronic use of force in the United States. Inclusion of less-than-lethal devices at the scene. the elements listed above would have overly • Verbal commands by an officer. complicated the project and substantially reduced local agency participation.

20 Chapter 3: IACP National Database Project on Police Use of Force

Agencies contributing to the use-of-force database

IACP has obtained a substantial level of Although not nationally representative at use-of-force data from participating agen- this early stage of project development, the cies. Hundreds of others are establishing received data provide indicators regarding deadlines for submitting data either to their police use of force against subjects and State chiefs’ organizations or to IACP subject use of force against officers. As of directly: this writing, agencies representing popula- tions ranging from 1,000 to more than 1 • About 4,000 agencies have requested million have contributed data on thousands the requisite software. of incidents. Reported use-of-force inci- • An estimated 1,000 agencies are using dents applicable to 1996 and 1997 total the software to capture use-of-force data. 24,383 and 24,033, respectively (based on data submitted through September 1998). • Some 150 agencies are expected to con- tribute data for the 1998–99 data year.

Selected Preliminary Use-of-Force and 27 for 1997 on 2,310 police use-of-force Findings incidents indicate that the vast majority of such incidents occurred in arrest-related Although the database is in the early stages situations. For the 1996–97 period, those of development, the level of interest and agencies also reported the following: support from local police agencies is encour- ● Of 2,264 use-of-force confrontations for aging. (See sidebar “Agencies contributing to which the race of officers and subjects was the use-of-force database.”) Nonetheless, the known, 909 were intraracial (officer and data are not yet nationally representative. subject of the same race) and 1,335 were Conclusions about national use-of-force interracial. trends, therefore, should not be attempted For a more detailed at this time. ● About 10 percent of 2,479 officers using account of use-of-force force sustained injuries. Less than 1 per- But preliminary findings based on the data project findings, see Inter- cent of the injuries were major; none re- may provide useful insights, however tenta- national Association of sulted in death. About 38 percent of the tive, into current police and subject use-of- Chiefs of Police, Police subjects were injured as the result of po- force issues. The IACP calculation of the Use of Force in America: lice use of force, including approximately use-of-force rate is based on dispatched calls Research in Progress 1.5 percent with major injuries. (Data for service. For example, based on 1995 data Report on the IACP Na- spanning the 1995–97 period indicate reported by 110 agencies, the police use-of- tional Database Project, that of 75,082 use-of-force incidents, force rate was 4.19 per 10,000 responded-to Alexandria, Virginia: 3,274, or about 4 percent, resulted in calls for service, or 0.0419 percent. Jurisdic- International Association officer injuries, all but 39 minor.) tion size for 78 of those agencies was 35,000 of Chiefs of Police, April population or less; for 4 departments, ● Of 3,972 reported incidents involving use 1998. 500,000 population or more. of force, 20 resulted in complaints by subjects. Data reported for 1995–97 indicate that of 62,411 use-of-force incidents during the pe- riod, about 87 percent involved officers using Future of the Database physical force.2 Officers used chemical force From the inception of the database project in 7 percent of the incidents, firearms in in 1996, it has had—and is expected to about 5 percent. continue to have—a three-tiered impact on Data received by IACP through September police use-of-force policies and practices in 1998 from 26 agencies reporting for 1996 the United States. At the national level, the

21 Use of Force by Police

IACP annual report Police Use of Force in 7 pilot States, database software is now in America provides summary and incident in- place in more than 1,000 agencies nationwide formation to police leaders, the public, and and in the last quarter of 1998, Illinois and the media. At the State level, State associa- Rhode Island joined the project, followed by tions of chiefs of police increasingly use the Maryland and Missouri in early 1999. Newly project to provide leadership to their con- recruited States may contribute data from as stituent law enforcement agencies. Finally, far back as 1991. IACP believes that the ben- local police agencies use IACP-provided soft- efits of its use-of-force database project will ware to capture use-of-force information per- continue to increase as the number of contrib- taining to their own departments and use it uting departments approaches national for such purposes as the following: representation.

● To promote improved policies, training, and procedures governing departmentwide Notes use of force. 1. Data submitted to IACP by any given ● To reduce potential department liability agency may also reflect use-of-force inci- arising from frivolous or unfounded legal dents resulting from responses to other actions related to use of force. than calls for service—for example, from officer-initiated contacts with the public. ● To contribute data to statewide use-of- force data repositories, where applicable, 2. The data for 1996 and 1997 reflect agency and to the IACP database. use-of-force reports received through Sep- tember 1998 and, therefore, are not yet com- The IACP database is a dynamic one. The plete. Although the IACP database project number of departments providing new or up- started in 1996, some agencies supplied data dated data increases almost on a daily basis. for 1995. For example, from a modest beginning of

Addendum: Key Elements in Building der Patrol (Immigration and Naturalization the IACP Use-of-Force Database Service). This group, from the outset, has provided advice on local concerns, State as- To ensure the success of the database project, sociation perspectives, and logistical issues. IACP created two advisory panels to support This group also provides midyear and end- initial project activities. The first was an ad year input on project direction and selected hoc committee of police and justice leaders milestones. brought together at IACP headquarters to react to the project’s scope and give general The SACOP role policy input and advice. This group consisted The State Associations of Chiefs of Police of DOJ representatives, State police, county (SACOP) Division of IACP laid the founda- sheriffs, local law enforcement officers and tion for this program from its inception. In other criminal justice professionals. Consensus particular, the Virginia Association of Chiefs on key issues, such as definitions and data of Police had already instituted a statewide elements, was achieved during the project’s use-of-force reporting program that served start-up phase. as the model for IACP’s national effort. The A second and continuing advisory committee strength and reach of SACOP organizations consists of representatives from each of within most of the States provided a flexible seven pilot State associations, discussed be- framework for developing and expanding the low, and a representative from the U.S. Bor- project.

22 Chapter 3: IACP National Database Project on Police Use of Force

In collaboration with SACOP leadership, content”), it soon became clear that an auto- IACP initially identified seven pilot State mated data collection system was required. associations that would help coordinate the The ideal system would need to: contribution of information for the national ● Be compatible across the widest possible database effort: Arkansas, New Jersey, New spectrum of computers used in depart- York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and ments nationwide. West Virginia. DOJ also arranged early Fed- eral support by designating the U.S. Border ● Employ a graphical user interface that Patrol to contribute data. would facilitate self-instruction by the user. Each pilot State association identified five local police departments to contribute data to ● Handle the relationship between inci- the project. To accomplish the data collection dents involving a single officer and mul- and transfer, IACP developed a new software tiple subjects, multiple officers and a application specifically for this purpose. single subject, and any other possible combination. A three-tiered approach to data collection Staff decided on a system that could meet Data flow was designed from the outset to these needs and was scalable in that it could emanate from local departments, through support the inevitable evolution of revisions, the respective SACOP offices, and then to customizations, additions, and expansions IACP. The identities of all participating inherent in software projects of this type. departments are masked by use of a self- Because data flowed from local agencies to installing agency reporting code, which is SACOP regional data repositories and from automatically appended to all local agency there to IACP, two versions of the software data records. This code is the only means by were produced. The first, the local agency ver- which individual data records can be distin- sion, was intended to automate data capture guished from one contributing source to an- at the local department level. This software other. The SACOP organizations have the was equipped with a simplified data export capability to generate regional use-of-force function by which the user could write the data based on the anonymous records captured use-of-force data to a floppy disk by reported to them by departments in their simply clicking an on-screen button. States. The second version of the software was in- Larger departments, which maintain elec- tended for use by the SACOP data reposito- tronic repositories of their own use-of-force ries. The SACOP version of the software data, have the option of reporting their data remains identical to the local agency version (in any data format) directly to IACP in cases in terms of the number and type of data ele- where the appropriate SACOP office is not ments captured. However, the SACOP ver- participating in the project. Even in these sion is provided with an import capability by instances, the identity of the contributing which data on disks originating from local agency is protected by an agency reporting agencies can easily be incorporated into the code in the same manner that the identity of regional database. Data from each of the re- a department is protected when contributing gional databases are periodically exported to data through its State organization. floppy disk and sent to IACP for inclusion in Software design and training its database. Several software improvements have been made. Based on the large number of data elements relevant to this study (see sidebar “Database

23 Use of Force by Police

Training for IACP database administrators derlying the project. At the conclusion of the was provided in a formal class setting by training, students, all of whom were sworn IACP in August 1997. The 8-hour class pro- law enforcement personnel from participat- vided hands-on technical training in setting ing local police departments, were presented up, operating, and troubleshooting the use- with certificates identifying them as IACP of-force software and in the philosophy un- use-of-force database administrators.

Database content

Guided by the broad framework of use-of- • Number of third parties involved. force issues and by IACP’s experience with • Age of officer(s)/subject(s). other sensitive police policy issues, the project team decided upon the following • Type of assignment. elements for inclusion in the use-of-force • Duty status. database: • Education of officer(s)/subject(s). Department characteristics: • Race/ethnicity of officer(s)/subject(s). • Report year. • Type of force used by officer(s)/subject(s). • Jurisdiction size. • Officer/subject injury. • Department type. Complaint characteristics: • Calls for service. • Complaint time. • Ethnicity demographics. • Complaint date. • Number of use-of-force incidents by type. • Complaint year. • Number of force-related complaints. • Number of officers involved. • Complaint resolution. • Number of subjects involved. • Types of less-than-lethal weapons authorized. • Number of third parties involved. • Use-of-force training and policies in place. • Age of officer(s)/subject(s). • Administrative policies for use-of-force • Type of assignment, duty status. complaint. • Education of officer(s)/subject(s). Incident characteristics: • Race/ethnicity of officer(s)/subject(s). • Incident time. • Type of force used by officer(s)/subject(s). • Incident date. • Officer/subject injury. • Incident year. • Previous complaints against officer. • Number of officers involved. • Complaint disposition. • Number of subjects involved.

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