Micro-Structure of Nonlethal Force: Baseline Data From an Observational Study

• NCJ Number: 167544
• Journal: Criminal Justice Review Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: (Autumn 1995) Pages: 169-186
• Author(s): D A Klinger
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using data from an observational study, this article examines police officers' use of less than lethal force in encounters with citizens, discusses the implications of the findings, and offers suggestions for future research.

Abstract

Data for the study were collected during 1985 and 1986 as part of the Police Foundation's Metro-Dade Police/Citizen Violence Reduction Project. Just over 100 officers from three patrol districts of the Metropolitan Dade County (Florida) Police Department were randomly selected to participate in the study. Trained observers accompanied each officer on five 8-hour patrol shifts during the later months of 1985, recording information about selected aspects of the officer's interactions with citizens. Over the course of the study, observers accompanied officers on 877 patrol shifts. Observers had separate observation instruments for each of the following types of encounters: routine traffic stops, high-risk traffic stops, crimes in progress, and disputes. This study focused on data pertinent to how officers used several distinct types of force in a sample of interpersonal disputes. The study calculated how often officers used any type of force against citizens in each of the 241 cases. In most cases (60 percent) officers used no force. When officers did use force, it was most often verbal. Officers issued voice commands in 39 percent of the cases. When physical force was used, officers used firm grips in 17 percent of the cases, pain holds in 7 percent, neck holds in 2 percent, baton blows in 2 percent, and punches or kicks in 1 percent. The study thus concludes that officers rarely use physical force in encounters with citizens, and they use less severe forms of nonlethal force far more often than they use more severe forms. Also, officers nearly always use all the forms of nonlethal force up to the highest level that they employ. 3 tables and 29 references