Police use of nonlethal force in New York City: situational and community factors

Using Interval-Level Metrics to Investigate Situational-, Suspect-, and Officer-Level Predictors of Police Performance During Encounters With the Public

“…Sun et al (2008) found that officers were more likely to use coercive force in neighborhoods with concentrated disadvantage and in neighborhoods with a lower percentage of senior citizens. Using the New York Police Department's Stop, Question, and Frisk data, Lee (2016) measured the impact of location (inside or outside), time of incident, rate of violent crime in the neighborhood, and racial composition of the neighborhood on use of nonlethal force. Lee found that nonlethal force (compared with no force) was more likely to be employed in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of non-White citizens and with higher rates of violent crime.…”

“…The majority of this research has focused on the outcomes of these encounters as the dependent variable of interest. For example, the questions of whether suspect race influences officer-involved shootings (James, James, & Vila, 2016; Nix, Campbell, Byers, & Alpert, 2017), whether officers use greater force against suspects based on their demeanor (Crawford & Burns, 1998; James, James, & Vila, 2018), and whether neighborhood predicts the outcomes of police–citizen encounters (Lee, 2016; Sun, Payne, & Wu, 2008) have dominated the policing literature. Although notable studies have analyzed process—for example, examining predictors of procedural justice (Holtfreter, Mastrofski, Jonathan-Zamir, Moyal, & Willis, 2016), measuring police use of force relative to suspect resistance (Alpert & Dunham, 1997; Hine, Porter, Westera, Alpert, & Allen, 2018), and de-escalation tactics (Todak & James, 2018)—most have used the outcome of encounters to judge appropriateness of police behavior.…”

A Typology of Citizen Presentations in Police Use of Force Events: Are There Ecological Drivers?

“…Despite citizen resistance, threats and other behaviors being critical explanatory factors in police use of force events, very few studies have considered how citizen behaviors in use of force events may vary across communities. As noted, there is considerable evidence that police use of force varies systematically across communities and neighborhoods (Lee, 2016;Lee et al, 2010Lee et al, , 2014Smith, 1986;Smith & Holmes, 2014;Terrill & Reisig, 2003). Evidence has been found for the influence of ecological factors such as violent crime rates (Jacobs & O'Brien, 1998;Lee et al, 2010Lee et al, , 2014Terrill & Reisig, 2003), racial heterogeneity (Jacobs & O'Brien, 1998;Lersch et al, 2008;Smith, 1986;Smith & Holmes, 2003, 2014, social disorganization (Jacobs & O'Brien, 1998;Parker, MacDonald, Jennings, & Alpert, 2005), and socioeconomic disadvantage (Lee et al, 2010;Terrill & Reisig, 2003).…”

“…Citizen resistance constitutes both a practical and legal factor in police decision-making about appropriate levels of force. It is, therefore, not surprising that resistance (including passive and active resistance, and fleeing) is one of the most consistent determinants of the level of force used by police (Bolger, 2015; Garner, Maxwell, & Heraux, 2002; Lee, 2016; Lee et al., 2014; Lersch, Bazley, Mieczkowski, & Childs, 2008; Lim & Lee, 2015; Terrill, 2005; Terrill & Mastrofski, 2002). It is possible that at least some of the apparent relationship between suspect resistance and police use of force may be influenced by the data sources often drawn upon – ‘use of force’ reports.…”

“…While not a legal factor in terms of justifying increased use of force, cognitive impairment or intoxication in citizens could be associated with higher levels of risk in police–citizen encounters. There is reasonable evidence to suggest that citizens who are intoxicated due to drugs or alcohol or who are displaying symptoms of a mental illness (these factors have often been measured together) are more likely to be subject to police use of force or more serious force (Bolger, 2015; Kaminski et al., 2004; Kesic, Thomas, & Ogloff, 2013; Lee, 2016; Lersch & Mieczkowski, 2005). However, at least two studies have found no impact of citizen mental impairment when it was measured separately from drug and alcohol intoxication (Klahm et al., 2011; Terrill, 2005).…”