RT Article
T1 Exploring bias in police shooting decisions with real shoot/don’t shoot cases
JF Crime & delinquency
VO 64
IS 9
SP 1171
OP 1192
A1 Worrall, John L.
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1578286093
AB The controversy surrounding recent high-profile police shootings (e.g., Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Laquan McDonald in Chicago) has prompted inquiry into the possible existence of bias in officers’ use-of-force decisions. Using a balanced mix of shoot/don’t shoot cases from a large municipal police department in the Southwestern United States, this study analyzed the effect of suspect race on officers’ decisions to shoot—while accounting for other theoretically relevant factors. Findings suggest that Black suspects were not disproportionately the target of police shootings; Black suspects were approximately one third as likely to be shot as other suspects. This finding challenges the current bias narrative and is consistent with the other race-related findings in recently published research.
K1 implicit bias
K1 use of force
K1 bias
K1 police shooting
DO 10.1177/0011128718756038