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The Use of Force

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Education Level and Police Use of Force

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Criminology ((BRIEFSPOLICI))

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Abstract

Many studies have researched the use of force to determine their causes and influences (Bayley and Garofalo 1989; Binder and Scharf 1980; Bittner 1970; Black 1980; Friedrich 1977; Fyfe 1988; Garner et al. 1996; Jacobs and Britt 1979; Klinger 1995; Muir 1977; Reiss 1968; Ryberg and Terrill 2010; Terrill and Mastrofski 2002; Worden 1995). The spectrum of influences upon the use and level of force a police officer uses is broad and many studies have attempted to show the impact of these individual influences. For example, individual characteristics of police officers often influence the level of force used. In terms of years of experience, Chapman (2012) reports that those officers who are younger with less experience tend to resort to use force because they do not have skills necessary to identify and use other means to handle dangerous situations. Furthermore, officers with less experience use force more often than those officers of the same given age (Bayley and Garofalo 1989). Although one might conclude that experience is a factor in controlling force, it is not being ruled out in this study, as this study concentrates primarily on education. On the other hand, other studies report that there is no direct relationship between experience and the levels of force used (McCluskey and Terrill 2005; Sun and Payne 2004). The disparities in these findings can be attributed in part to an almost two decade difference in the studies cited, and if significant, promotes the need for this study, as evolving police work can be an influencing variable on the relationship between college education and the use of force.

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  1. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA

    John Vespucci

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  1. John Vespucci
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Vespucci, J. (2020). The Use of Force. In: Education Level and Police Use of Force. SpringerBriefs in Criminology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42795-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42795-5_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42794-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42795-5

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