NCJ Number
126773
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 17 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 295-301
Date Published
1990
Length
7 pages
Annotation
One-hundred forty-two Shelby County (TN) sheriff's deputies were given a booklet containing 60 scenarios based on actual previous incidents. Upon reading each scenario, the subjects indicated if they would: (1) not draw the weapon (N), (2) draw the weapon (D), (3) draw the weapon and aim it (A), and (4) shoot the suspect (S), and explained why.
Abstract
They provided the exact same rating 71 percent of the time; of the remaining 29 percent, most of the disagreement centered on the distinction between choices (A) and (S), whether or not to shoot the suspect. In 95 percent of the scenarios, officers drew their weapons. Of that, 90 percent aimed and of that, 33 percent shot the suspect. Differences between the responses from supervisory and nonsupervisory officers were not significant. Script theory emphasizes the importance of goals, plans, and actions in knowledge organization to determine the reasons for shooting a suspect. The study further concluded that static surface features of suspects, such as race, do not guide officers' decisions to shoot. 4 tables (including an example scenario) and 13 references