Police Use of Force: Predictors and Interventions

In recent months, a number of extensively covered police killings have thrust the issue of police use of force in the United States into the spotlight. Similar coverage in years past following the Watts Rebellion and the Los Angeles Uprising catalyzed a number of extensive research efforts to understand what leads an officer to use force in an encounter with a citizen. Despite the many research efforts, our understanding of these encounters remains vague, at best. The current research project synthesized the existing literature regarding the predictors of use of force in citizen encounters with police. Findings suggested that the most salient predictors of use of force are characteristics possessed by the suspect, many of which reflect narratives from the media regarding danger and criminality. The project also reviewed interventions that have been attempted across the nation to reduce these incidents. Psychological research suggests that in split-second decisions, individuals rely heavily on implicit beliefs to guide their actions. In light of this, the current strategies for police trainings regarding use of force are being developed around debiasing techniques, which have been shown to be effective in other contexts. Informed by both the historical body of research and the efficacy of contemporary strategies, a way forward is proposed and implications for the role of the social work in bridging the gap between law enforcement and communities of color are discussed