Analyzing and Understanding Police-Involved Shootings in the United States

Abstract

The use of force by police in many nations has and continues to come under intense scrutiny by the public and media. This is most apparent in the United States as it relates to police-involved shootings, and even more so when the criminal suspect is Black. Fueled mainly by social media and supported by traditional news reports, a misconception has been portrayed that American law enforcement officials have persistently shot or killed unarmed Black suspects due to endemic racism. Data, however, does reveal that the use of force by American police officers is extremely rare and that police-involved shootings, regardless of the suspect’s race or ethnicity, have been overwhelmingly (more than 99%) found to be legally justified following prosecutorial investigation and/or judicial process. Analysis has revealed that the majority of individuals shot by police were in fact White and that less than 2% of suspects were unarmed. The unwarranted criticism targeting police in the United States has had an undesirable impact, often referred to as the “Ferguson Effect,” wherein police officers have drastically restricted proactive investigative and enforcement activities in an effort to avoid public, media, and governmental scrutiny. As a direct result, gun violence and serious crime have dramatically increased in the United States since 2014. This chapter will undertake a comprehensive examination of these phenomena.