Abstract
When a police officer uses deadly physical force, the public often questions this behavior. There may be times, however, when deadly force might be expected by the public. For example, as first responders to terrorist and active shooter events, officers are expected to quickly end the confrontation, and deadly force may be the only option available. Contemporary scholarship, however, does not explore the public’s view of when the use of deadly force is acceptable or expected. This chapter offers an exploratory examination of when deadly force is acceptable to the American public. A vignette research design was used that described an active shooter event, integrating four contextual dimensions that might influence the use of deadly force. A convenience sample of college students responded to an online survey to explore the public’s views of the need to use deadly force. Results indicate that respondents receiving vignettes in which the officer uses deadly force, rather than not, are more likely to agree with this behavior. Further, non-White students are less likely to agree with the immediate use of deadly force.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Data was collected for student race. The term “Hispanic” was not used because, strictly speaking, Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a race.
- 2.
The author has taught both introductory and advanced level policing and law enforcement issues classes for nearly two decades, and students continue to believe that police officers should be able to either shoot a suspect in an arm or leg to end an event. Sometimes students believe an officer could actually shoot the suspect’s gun from his hands.
- 3.
To further assess the statistical power of this data, an a priori analysis was also conducted with similar G*Power 3 settings. The program indicated that an adequate n would be 70 respondents.
References
Aguinis, H., & Bradley, K. J. (2014). Best practice recommendations for designing and implementing experimental vignette methodology studies. Organizational Research Methods, 17(4), 351–371.
Bailey, C. (2018). Three sheriff’s deputies remained outside school during Parkland shooting. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/three-sheriff-s-deputies-remained-outside-school-during-parkland-shooting-n850946
Belur, J. (2010). Why do the police use deadly force? Explaining police encounters in Mumbai. British Journal of Criminology, 50(2), 320–341.
Bittner, E. (1970). The function of the police in modern society. National Institute of Mental Health.
Blair, J. P., Nichols, T., Burns, D., & Curnutt, J. R. (2016). Active shooter events and response. CRC Press.
Bolger, P. C. (2015). Just following orders: A meta-analysis of the correlates of American police officer use of force decisions. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 40(3), 466–492.
Cao, L., Frank, J., & Cullen, F. T. (1996). Race, community context and confidence in the police. American Journal of Police, 15(1), 3–22.
Capellan, J. A. (2015). Lone wolf terrorist or deranged shooter? A study of ideological active shooter events in the United States, 1970-2014. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 38(6), 395–413.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Erlbaum.
Crank, J. P. (2003). Institutional theory of police: A review of the state of the art. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 26(2), 186–207.
Crank, J. P., & Langworthy, R. (1992). An institutional perspective of policing. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 83(2), 338–363.
Cullen, F. T., Cao, L., Frank, J., Langworthy, R. H., Browning, S. L., Kopache, R., & Stevenson, T. J. (1996). “Stop or I’ll Shoot”: Racial differences in support for police use of deadly force. American Behavioral Scientist, 39(4), 449–460.
Department of Homeland Security. (2008). Active Shooter: How to Respond.
Engel, R. S., & Smith, M. R. (2009). Perceptual distortion and reasonableness during police shootings: Law, legitimacy, and future research. Criminology and Public Policy, 8, 140–151.
Etheridge, C., & Gibson, R. (2020). “Dog-involved bitings?” Construction of culpability in news stories about “officer-involved shootings”. Howard Journal of Communications, 31(1), 86–98.
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G* Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191.
Flanagan, T. J., & Vaughn, M. S. (1996). Public opinion about police abuse of force. In W. A. Geller & H. Toch (Eds.), Police violence: Understanding and controlling police abuse of force (pp. 113–128). Yale University Press.
Fyfe, J. J. (1982). Blind justice: Police shootings in Memphis. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 73, 707–722.
Geller, W. A., & Karales, K. J. (1981). Shootings of and by Chicago police: Uncommon crises part I: Shootings by Chicago police. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 72, 1813–1866.
Gerber, M. M., & Jackson, J. (2017). Justifying violence: Legitimacy, ideology and public support for police use of force. Psychology, Crime and Law, 23(1), 79–95.
Giblin, M. J. (2006). Structural elaboration and institutional isomorphism: The case of crime analysis units. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 29(4), 643–664.
Hosmer, D. W., Jr., & Lemeshow, S. (1989). Applied logistic regression. Wiley.
Huey, L., Cyr, K., & Ricciardelli, R. (2016). Austerity policing’s imperative: Understanding the drivers of policing activity in Canada. International Journal of Police Science and Management, 18(2), 133–139.
Huff-Corzine, L., McCutcheon, J. C., Corzine, J., Jarvis, J. P., Tetzlaff-Bemiller, M. J., Weller, M., & Landon, M. (2014). Shooting for accuracy: Comparing data sources on mass murder. Homicide Studies, 18(1), 105–124.
Jacobs, D., & Britt, D. (1979). Inequality and police use of deadly force: An empirical assessment of a conflict hypothesis. Social Problems, 26, 403–412.
James, L., James, S. M., & Vila, B. J. (2016). The reverse racism effect: Are cops more hesitant to shoot black than white suspects? Criminology and Public Policy, 15(2), 457–479.
Jennings, W. G., Hollis, M. E., & Fernandez, A. J. (2019). Deadly force and deadly outcome: Examining the officer, suspect, and situational characteristics of officer-involved shootings. Deviant Behavior, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2019.1596532
Johnson, D., & Kuhns, J. B. (2009). Striking out: Race and support for police use of force. Justice Quarterly, 26(3), 592–623.
Johnson, D. J., Tress, T., Burkel, N., Taylor, C., & Cesario, J. (2019). Officer characteristics and racial disparities in fatal officer-involved shootings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(32), 15877–15882.
Kassab, B., Williams, M., & Lotan, G. T. (2019). Pulse shooting questions still linger as state attorney clears police in response probe. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pulse-orlando-nightclub-shooting/os-ne-pulse-shooting-questions-linger-20190215-story.html
Katz, C. M. (2001). The establishment of a police gang unit: An examination of organizational and environmental factors. Criminology, 39(1), 37–74.
Klinger, D. A., & Brunson, R. K. (2009). Police officers’ perceptual distortions during lethal force situations: Informing the reasonableness standard. Criminology and Public Policy, 8(1), 117–140.
Klinger, D. A., & Grossman, D. (2001). Who should deal with foreign terrorists on US soil: Socio-legal consequences of September 11, and the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks in America. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 25, 815–834.
Klinger, D. A., Rosenfeld, R., Isom, D., & Deckard, M. (2016). Race, crime, and the microecology of deadly force. Criminology and Public Policy, 15, 193–222.
Knoke, D., & Bohrnstedt, G. W. (1994). Statistics for social data analysis. F.E. Peacock.
Kochel, T. R. (2012). Can police legitimacy promote collective efficacy? Justice Quarterly, 29(3), 384–419.
Kochel, T. R. (2017). Explaining racial differences in Ferguson’s impact on local residents’ trust and perceived legitimacy: Policy implications for police. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 30(3), 374–405.
Koper, C. S., Johnson, W. D., Nichols, J. L., Ayers, A., & Mullins, N. (2018). Criminal use of assault weapons and high-capacity semiautomatic firearms: An updated examination of local and national sources. Journal of Urban Health, 95(3), 313–321.
Malmin, M. (2015). Police misconduct, racism, and excessive use of force-failure analysis, commentary, and recommendations. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 3(08), 1–19.
Marenin, O. (2016). Cheapening death: Danger, police street culture, and the use of deadly force. Police Quarterly, 19(4), 461–487.
Martaindale, M. H., & Blair, J. P. (2019). The evolution of active shooter response training protocols since Columbine: Lessons from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 35(3), 342–356.
Meyer, M. W. (1980). Police shootings at minorities: The case of Los Angeles. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 452, 98–110.
Milton, C. M., Halleck, J. W., Lardner, J., & Abrecht, G. L. (1977). Police use of deadly force. Police Foundation.
Morrison, G. B., & Vila, B. J. (1998). Police handgun qualification: Practical measures or aimless activity? Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 21(3), 510–533.
Moule Jr, R. K., Parry, M. M., & Fox, B. (2019). Public support for police use of SWAT: Examining the relevance of legitimacy. Journal of Crime and Justice. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2018.1556862
Murray, J. L. (2017). Mass media reporting and enabling of mass shootings. Cultural Studies- Critical Methodologies, 17(2), 114–124.
Nix, J., Campbell, B. A., Byers, E. H., & Alpert, G. P. (2017). A bird’s eye view of civilians killed by police in 2015: Further evidence of shooter bias. Criminology and Public Policy, 16(1), 1–32.
Nix, J., Wolfe, S. E., & Campbell, B. A. (2018). Command-level police officers’ perceptions of the “war on cops” and de-policing. Justice Quarterly, 35(1), 33–54.
Norušis, M. J. (2005). SPSS 13.0 advanced statistical procedures companion. In Upper Saddle River. Prentice Hall.
Phillips, S. W. (2016). Myths, militarism, and the police patrol rifle. Policing and Society, 26, 185–196.
Phillips, S. W., & Kim, D. Y. (2021). Exploring officer involved shootings with interaction effects: A deeper understanding of how race interacts with other factors in the use of deadly force. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 48(6), 755–775.
Phillips, S. W., & Varano, S. P. (2008). Police criminal charging decisions: An examination of post-arrest decision-making. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36(4), 307–315.
Prenzler, T., Porter, L., & Alpert, G. P. (2013). Reducing police use of force: Case studies and prospects. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(2), 343–356.
Rajakaruna, N., Henry, P. J., Cutler, A., & Fairman, G. (2017). Ensuring the validity of police use of force training. Police Practice and Research, 18(5), 507–521.
Reisig, M. D., Mays, R. D., & Telep, C. W. (2018). The effects of procedural injustice during police-citizen encounters: A factorial vignette study. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 14(1), 49–58.
Robin, G. D. (1963). Justifiable homicide by police officers. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 54, 225–231.
Rossi, P. H., & Anderson, A. B. (1982). The factorial survey approach: An introduction. In P. H. Rossi & S. L. Nock (Eds.), Measuring social judgment: The factorial survey approach (pp. 15–67). Sage.
Schildkraut, J., Elsass, H. J., & Meredith, K. (2018). Mass shootings and the media: Why all events are not created equal. Journal of Crime and Justice, 41(3), 223–243.
Shane, J. M. (2018). Improving police use of force: A policy essay on national data collection. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 29(2), 128–148.
Shane, J. M., Lawton, B., & Swenson, Z. (2017). The prevalence of fatal police shootings by US police, 2015–2016: Patterns and answers from a new data set. Journal of Criminal Justice, 52, 101–111.
Shjarback, J. A., & Nix, J. (2020). Considering violence against police by citizen race/ethnicity to contextualize representation in officer-involved shootings. Journal of Criminal Justice, 66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2019.101653
Silver, J. R., & Pickett, J. T. (2015). Toward a better understanding of politicized policing attitudes: Conflicted conservatism and support for police use of force. Criminology, 53(4), 650–676.
Sorenson, S. B., & Taylor, C. A. (2005). Female aggression toward male intimate partners: An examination of social norms in a community-based sample. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29(1), 78–96.
Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T. R. (2003). The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law and Society Review, 37, 513–548.
Taylor, R. B., & Lawton, B. A. (2012). An integrated contextual model of confidence in local police. Police Quarterly, 15(4), 414–445.
Terrill, W., & Paoline, E. A. (2017). Police use of less lethal force: Does administrative policy matter? Justice Quarterly, 34, 193–216.
Terrill, W., & Reisig, M. D. (2003). Neighborhood context and police use of force. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40(3), 291–321.
Thompson, B. L., & Lee, J. D. (2004). Who cares if police become violent? Explaining approval of police use of force using a national sample. Sociological Inquiry, 74(3), 381–410.
Tyler, T. R., & Huo, Y. J. (2002). Trust in the law: Encouraging public cooperation with the police and courts. Russell Sage.
Van Craen, M. (2012). Determinants of ethnic minority confidence in the police. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38, 1029–1047.
Waddington, P. A. J. (2007). Use of force. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 1(3), 249–251.
Walker, S. (1993). Taming the system: The control of discretion in criminal justice, 1950–1990. Oxford University Press.
Weitzer, R., & Tuch, S. A. (2005). Racially biased policing: Determinants of citizen perceptions. Social Forces, 83, 1009–1030.
Wheeler, A. P., Phillips, S. W., Worrall, J. L., & Bishopp, S. A. (2017). What factors influence an officer’s decision to shoot? The promise and limitations of using public data. Justice Research and Policy, 18(1), 48–76.
White, M. D. (2006). Hitting the target (or not): Comparing characteristics of fatal, injurious, and noninjurious police shootings. Police Quarterly, 9(3), 303–330.
Worrall, J. L., Bishopp, S. A., Zinser, S. C., Wheeler, A. P., & Phillips, S. W. (2018). Exploring bias in police shooting decisions with real shoot/don’t shoot cases. Crime and Delinquency, 64(9), 1171–1192.
Cases Cited
Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix A
Appendix A
A police officer is dispatched to (an active shooter incident/a disturbance call about a “man with a gun”). The officer arrives a few minutes later at a local family restaurant. He sees several people running from the building (but none of them appear injured/and some of them are injured and bleeding). A female in the parking lot points at the restaurant and yells to the officer “he has a gun!” The officer is armed with his pistol, and he immediately enters the building. He locates the suspect in a hallway, who is armed with (a pistol/an assault rifle). The officer (yells “drop the weapon” several times. The suspect hesitates for a moment, but then drops his gun and surrenders/immediately shoots the suspect in the leg, who drops his weapon/immediately shoots and kills the suspect.)
On a scale of 1–5, do you disagree or agree with the decision made by the officer when he confronted the suspect?
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Phillips, S.W. (2023). Public Acceptance of Police Use of Deadly Force: An Exploratory Study. In: Farmer, C., Evans, R. (eds) Policing & Firearms. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13013-7_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13013-7_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-13012-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-13013-7
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)