NCJ Number
167543
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: (Autumn 1995) Pages: 146-168
Date Published
1995
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a pilot effort to develop explicit measures of the nature and extent of force used by and against police officers.
Abstract
The research emphasizes that force is a continuum and that understanding the use of force by and against the police requires systematically collected representative samples of incidents where different amounts of force, including no force at all, are used. Using self-reported data from police officers involved in a representative sample of 1,585 arrests in Phoenix, three measures were developed as examples that capture the traditional notion of a force/no force dichotomy, the current policy of the Phoenix Police Department, and some of the possibilities for developing a scale of force. Using each of these three alternative measures of force, this survey of adult custody arrests in Phoenix found that no force or only low levels of force were used in a large portion of cases. The researchers interviewed a subsample of suspects about the levels of force used by the police and by the suspects themselves. Comparable levels of police use of force were reported by suspects and by the police. Reverse record checks on self-reports of officers and suspects, incidents reported in official records, and accounts by independent observers will be necessary before sound judgments can be made about the reliability of these or any other measurement approaches. The measurement approaches proposed in this article are designed to incorporate popular ways of conceiving of the use of force and to stimulate innovation and creativity. Improved measures and alternative formulations of these measures can and should be developed. Until they are, the authors recommend using the measures of physical force, continuum of force, and maximum force. 5 figures and 49 references