Faculty Mentor(s)
Adviser Dr. Craig Bishop
Reader Dr. Steve Lowe
Project Type
EdD Colloquium - ONU
Scholarship Domain(s)
Scholarship of Discovery
Abstract
Officer-involved shootings lead to a costly process where lives are lost, careers are ruined, and taxpayer dollars are spent on investigation and litigation costs. The purpose of this study was to examine the cues that are associated with incidents that resulted in a police officer’s use of lethal as opposed to less than lethal force to increase awareness, enhance police safety, and improve training and supervision. Through the current quantitative correlational study, the researcher aimed to add to the discussion on police use of force. The researcher collected and analyzed preexisting sets of data from tactical response reports obtained through the freedom of information act from the Independent Police Review Authority, as well as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet provided by the Chicago Police Department. The researcher utilized an x2 test of independence to determine whether there is a significant relationship between two nominal variables. Through logistic regression, the results of the study indicated that suspect age, race, substance use, or aggressive actions, as well as officer race and geographic location, were significant predictors of use of force and type of force used. Neither suspect race (p = .841) nor officer race (p = .462) was a significant predictor of use of lethal force when controlling for these other variables. The results of this study suggest several implications for policy reform, including multicultural training for officers and community educational programs.
Permission Type
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Shots fired: examining cues in polic use of force encounters
Wisner Auditorium
Officer-involved shootings lead to a costly process where lives are lost, careers are ruined, and taxpayer dollars are spent on investigation and litigation costs. The purpose of this study was to examine the cues that are associated with incidents that resulted in a police officer’s use of lethal as opposed to less than lethal force to increase awareness, enhance police safety, and improve training and supervision. Through the current quantitative correlational study, the researcher aimed to add to the discussion on police use of force. The researcher collected and analyzed preexisting sets of data from tactical response reports obtained through the freedom of information act from the Independent Police Review Authority, as well as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet provided by the Chicago Police Department. The researcher utilized an x2 test of independence to determine whether there is a significant relationship between two nominal variables. Through logistic regression, the results of the study indicated that suspect age, race, substance use, or aggressive actions, as well as officer race and geographic location, were significant predictors of use of force and type of force used. Neither suspect race (p = .841) nor officer race (p = .462) was a significant predictor of use of lethal force when controlling for these other variables. The results of this study suggest several implications for policy reform, including multicultural training for officers and community educational programs.