DEADLY FORCE AS A POLICY PROBLEM IN LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT: DO ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES MAKE A DIFFERENCE? |
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| Authors: | G Larry Mays William A Taggart |
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| Institution: | Associate professor and head of the Department of Criminal Justice at New Mexico State University. He was a police of ficer in Knoxville, TN from 1971 to 1975 arid holds the Bachelor of Science degree in public administration from the University of Tennessee, the Master of Arts degree in political science from East Tennessee State University, and the Doctor of Philosophy in political scienceipublic administration from the University of Tennessee. In aaaition to his currerit assignment, he has held faculty positions in criminal justice at East Tennessee State University arid at Appalachian State University.;Assistant professor of government at New Mexico State University. He holds the Doctor of Philosophy in political science from the Florida State University. He has co-authored articles appearing in the Public Administration Review, Western Political Quarterly, Judicature, and the Journul of Politics. |
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| Abstract: | This article examines the impact of six administrative practices on the use of deadly force by police officers in American cities with a population greater than 50,000. Generally, departmental policies demonstrate little association with the frequency of shooting incidents per police officer, or in the number of incidents resulting in fatalities or injuries. It does appear that police departments which issue more traditional sidearms tend to experience fewer incidents than departments which issue heavier firearms. This same lack of association between administrative practices and the use of deadly force is discovered when controlling for city population size arid state legal codes. Notwithstanding that some of the relationships are in the expected direction, their lack of statistical significance suggests that the use of deadly force has its antecedents in sources other than the administrative policies of local police departments. |
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