Tag: use of force
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Force and Fallout: Experimental Evidence from a National Test of the Community Expectations Standard
A persistent “reasonableness divide” exists between the legal standards governing police use of force and the public’s expectations, producing “lawful but awful” uses of force. This study empirically tests the “Community Expectations Standard” (CES), a model that identifies five criteria the public uses to evaluate force: underlying governmental interest, avoidability, officer motivation, subject resistance, and…
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Police Use-of-Force Self-efficacy: An Antidote to the Ferguson Effect?
Abstract Research has consistently shown that officers’ perceptions of deteriorated relationships with the public are associated with physical and emotional disengagement with their work. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this “Ferguson Effect” has also contributed to reluctance to use necessary physical force in the course of their duties, leading to compromises for officer safety and public…
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Justifiability and culpability in lethal self-defense: Police officers vs. civilians
Purpose Some critics argue that legal standards, even when and where equivalent, are differentially applied to officers and civilians. This study examined evaluations of justifiability and culpability for police officers versus civilians, as well as White shooters versus Black shooters, in a 2✕2 factorial experiment. It also explored how personal attitudes and characteristics correspond to…
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What Really Happened in Ferguson, and What the Country Can Learn from It
The United States found itself in the center of a heated national debate on race, policing, and justice in 2014. The shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager, by a white police officer sparked outrage and protests, shedding the spotlight on Ferguson. Policing Ferguson, Policing America dives into the heart of this time, offering…
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‘Send everybody’: Video shows ambush that killed Fargo officer, wounded 2 others
Dramatic body camera footage of a shooting ambush last month in Fargo shows the surprise nature of the chaotic attack along a busy street that left one police officer dead and others wounded, as the only officer left standing called for help and engaged the heavily armed shooter. North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley and…