Early Intervention Program Criteria: Evaluating Officer Use of Force

• NCJ Number: 226469
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 107-124
• Author(s): Thomas D. Bazley; Thomas Mieczkowski; Kim Michelle Lersch
• Date Published: March 2009
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether determining officers’ frequency and intensity of the use of force (as indicated by the number of use-of-force reports submitted) as well as officer force-factor values were good predictors of problematic officer behaviors that required early intervention.

Abstract

This study found that monitoring officer misconduct by the number of use-of-force reports filed failed to identify problem officers while falsely identifying officers whose behaviors did not constitute misconduct. In the department under review, an officer’s qualification for the early intervention program was based on the frequency of his/her use of higher levels of force. This criterion for intervention, however, did not monitor the congruence between the force applied and the resistance encountered, which is a key component of an evaluation of the appropriateness of an officer’s use of force. Weighted force-factor calculations are needed in order to identify those officers who use more force than is required for the resistance encountered. None of the department’s officers who had negative weighted force-factor values (higher level of force used than was required by resistance encountered) qualified for the early intervention program. On the other hand, the officers who did qualify for the early intervention program because of their frequent use of force, had weighted force-factor values that were strongly positive. This suggests they tended to limit their use of force even when encountering relatively higher levels of resistance. A remedy for this situation is to program the department’s computer so that the weighted force-factor calculation would be automatically generated for review and evaluation in providing an accurate assessment of not only an officer’s frequency in using force, but also the level of force used in relation to the resistance encountered. 6 tables and 27 references