NCJ Number
84012
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 73 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1982) Pages: 331-378
Date Published
1982
Length
48 pages
Annotation
Data from a Chicago Law Enforcement Study Group report provide material for this analysis of 187 incidents of shootings of police by themselves, civilians, and fellow officers as reported by the Chicago Police Department from 1974 to 1978. Rates of police-involved shootings are also investigated for variations over time as a means of suggesting shooting control strategies.
Abstract
Although nearly half (42 percent) of police shootings (self-inflicted or by fellow officers) were unintentional, all shootings of police by civilians were deliberate. A little over half of the incidents occurred off-duty while officers were cleaning their guns or were intervening in suspected criminal acts. Black officers were greatly overrepresented in off-duty shootings in proportion to their numbers on the force, but this is explained by their greater residency in high-crime areas. Data did not bear out the expected positive correlation between the number of shootings of police officers by civilians and the number of civilians shot by police. They also fail to indicate racial motivation in civilian shootings of police. Annual numbers of civilians shot by police from 1974 to 1980 fluctuated dramatically and decreased 26 percent overall. Over time, associations were found between these shootings and forcible felony arrests, the hit rates of bullets fired by officers, written deadly force policies, and inservice deadly force training. Control strategies for reducing shootings include a defense-of-life policy, restrictions on off-duty weapon use, and enforcement of these policies through investigations. Nonviolent problem solving should be encouraged, and more instruction provided on weapon use and maintenance. Footnotes and tables are included. For Part I, see NCJ-81196.