Why Police Kill: An Investigation into the Causes of and Solutions to Law Enforcement's Excessive Use of Lethal Force

Lethal force, and the debate surrounding its legitimacy, has been an impassioned part of society in the United States for decades. With over 600 civilian lives taken every year by police officers, the issue of police-involved homicides is at the forefront of discussion amongst scholars, politicians, and community members. Analysis into the specific details of each of these cases reveals certain conditions that were common to most of these incidents. The demographics of the suspect, the reason police presence was initially requested, and the behavior at the scene all contributed to the escalation of a standard police-suspect interaction into one that resulted in the use of lethal force. The excessive rate of police-involved homicides in the United States can be attributed to a potent police culture that influences its officers to prioritize force and aggression over communication and de-escalation. These attitudes are reinforced through training curricula, department policies, and police rhetoric. The legal system also condones this behavior, as evidenced by the lack of charges, trials, and guilty verdicts of officers that kill civilians. These causes must be combatted to eliminate unnecessary shootings. Steps need to be taken to reform police culture into one that reserves violence as a last resort. These could include increasing officer training requirements that teach cooperative tactics, diversifying the force to add new perspectives, creating new standards of practice that emphasize police-community relations, and strictly enforcing legal sanctions for misconduct while on duty. Change is necessary to ensure that law enforcement is truly protecting the community they serve.No embargoAcademic Major: Histor