Use of Force by Police: Overview of National and Local Data

• NCJ Number: 176330
• Author(s): Kenneth Adams; Geoffrey P. Alpert; Roger G. Dunham; Joel H. Garner; Lawrence A. Greenfeld; Mark A. Henriquez; Patrick A. Langan; Christopher D. Maxwell; Steven K. Smith
• Date Published: October 1999
• Length: 88 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Research Report
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This report examines police use of force.

Abstract

The report comprises six articles, beginning with an overview of what is known and not known about police use of force in an effort to help put the issue in perspective. The report also updates two national projects. One is designed to collect data on police-public contacts, including those involving police use of force, from a nationally representative sample of persons age 12 or older. The other seeks to encourage law enforcement agencies to anonymously and voluntarily submit use-of-force data to an International Association of Chiefs of Police national database for analysis. The report presents local-level information with use-of-force findings based on data acquired from nine police agencies. Those data include discussion of the concept of the “force factor," a measurement of police force incorporating officers’ actions relative to suspects’ physical resistance. Finally, it proposes a research agenda on police use of force, with special attention to issues of excessive force. Notes, figures, bibliography