Police use of force: Individual and situational factors of police-citizen encounters

As part of their duties, police may be required to use force to contain or control a situation during a police-citizen encounter. These encounters are usually dynamic and complex. This study uses official police data to quantitatively analyse significant use of force events. The study focuses on the individual and situational factors of 200 police-citizen encounters that resulted in the officer(s) using force. The incidents are analysed to explore situational factors related to the type of force used (for example, a Taser versus physical tactics) and the level of force used, applying Alpert and Dunham’s (1997) Force Factor method (where the level of force is explored relative to the level of suspect resistance). Results show patterns in police use of force according to the incident type (offence type), citizen and officer characteristics, and location. Incidents where force was used proportionally are compared to incidents where force was disproportionate (higher or lower than the level of resistance). The findings of this study will be discussed in relation to policing policies and procedures to help inform best practice methods in areas such as training methods, early warning systems for potentially harmful situations/individuals, and prevention strategies for potential excessive force incidents