NCJ Number
104583
Journal
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1986) Pages: 377-388
Date Published
1986
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examined the temporal relationship between the incidence of the police use of deadly force and the incidence of criminal homicide for New York City between 1971 and 1975.
Abstract
The data set was the same as that used by Fyfe in his cross-sectional microanalysis of police shootings, in which he found a strong spatial correlation between the rates of police shootings and the incidence of criminal homicide. The present study used bivariate ARIMA time-series analysis. There was no temporal relationship between the incidence of criminal homicide. Apparently the relationship between the two variables detected in numerous cross-sectional studies was spurious rather than causal. It is an empirical fact that places experiencing high rates of criminal homicide also experience high levels of police use of deadly force. This strong correlation is likely due to a third factor or group of factors as yet unknown. Future research into the causes of either criminal homicide or the police use of deadly force should be conducted separately, so the variables may not mask the effects of their shared common cause or causes. An understanding of one variable may assist in understanding the other variable. 4 figures and 11 references.