NCJ Number
169862
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1997) Pages: 651-686
Date Published
1997
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This article reports the findings of a study in three Caribbean nations on police perceptions regarding the use of less-than-lethal excessive force.
Abstract
Police scholars attribute police use of excessive force to various factors including individual characteristics, situational contingencies, organizational determinants and leadership styles. This report concerns police perceptions of less-than-lethal excessive force in three Caribbean nations. A model is developed based on current literature from developed nations that specifies the relationships among situational, individual, and organizational factors and the use of excessive force is measured by observations, interviews and surveys. A questionnaire collected data from 672 street-level constables and their immediate supervisors. Observations of constables, interviews with their supervisors, and interviews with command personnel provided the remainder of the data. Findings suggest that the determinants of perceived excessive use of force are similar in some respects and different in others between developing nations of the Caribbean and developed nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The article discusses policy implications for the control of excessive force in developing nations. Notes, tables, figure, references