Tag: Police Use of Force

A Study of Racially Disparate Outcomes in the Los Angeles Police Department

Abstract: This report analyzes pedestrian and motor vehicle stops of the Los
Angeles Police Department over a one-year period: July 2003 to June 2004. We find
prima facie evidence that African Americans and Hispanics are over-stopped, over-
frisked, over-searched, and over-arrested. After controlling for violent and property crime
rates in specific LAPD reporting districts, as well as a range of other variables, we find
that:

  • Per 10,000 residents, the black stop rate is 3,400 stops higher than the white stop
  • rate, and the Hispanic stop rate is almost 360 stops higher.
  • Relative to stopped whites, stopped blacks are 127% more likely and stopped
  • Hispanics are 43% more likely to be frisked.
  • Relative to stopped whites, stopped blacks are 76% more likely and stopped
  • Hispanics are 16% more likely to be searched.
  • Relative to stopped whites, stopped blacks are 29% more likely and stopped
  • Hispanics are 32% more likely to be arrested.

All of these disparities are statistically significant (p < .01). The findings of racial
disparity are supported by ancillary analyses of investigative outcomes and officer race.
We find that frisks and searches are systematically less productive when conducted on
blacks and Hispanics than when conducted on whites:

  • Frisked African Americans are 42.3% less likely to be found with a weapon than
  • frisked whites and that frisked Hispanics are 31.8% less likely to have a weapon
  • than frisked non-Hispanic whites.
  • Consensual searches of blacks are 37.0% less likely to uncover weapons, 23.7%
  • less likely to uncover drugs and 25.4% less likely to uncover anything else.
  • Consensual searches of Hispanics similarly are 32.8% less likely to uncover
  • weapons, 34.3% less likely to uncover drugs and 12.3% less likely to uncover
  • anything else.


It is implausible that higher frisk and search rates are justified by higher minority
criminality, when these frisks and searches are substantially less likely to uncover
weapons, drugs or other types of contraband. We also find that the black arrest disparity
was 9 percentage points lower when the stopping officer was black than when the
stopping officer was not black. Similarly, the Hispanic arrest disparity was 7 percentage
points lower when the stopping officer was Hispanic than when the stopping officer was
a non-Hispanic white. Taken as a whole, these results justify further investigation and
corrective action.

Get a .PDF copy of the report HERE

Why Fatal Police Shootings Aren’t Declining: Some Uncomfortable Facts | RealClearInvestigations

By James Varney & Abigail Degnan, RealClearInvestigationsApril 18, 2024
When Dexter Reed died in a shootout with Chicago police on March 21, the incident was quickly grafted onto a narrative that
— Read on www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2024/04/18/why_fatal_police_shootings_arent_declining_some_uncomfortable_facts_1025760.html

Addictive Hypervigilance and Uncontrolled Police Use of Force by Jesse Cheng :: SSRN

Abstract
This theoretical chapter draws from Gilmartin’s (1986) conceptualization of police hypervigilance to present an “addictive hypervigilance” hypothesis of uncontrolled police use of force. The hypothesis proposes that officers can develop a behavioral addiction to a reactive, fight-or-flight physiological state that promotes the misperception of threats, impairing affected officers’ ability over time to exercise appropriate restraint in the use of force. Should the hypothesis prove valid, this chapter suggests that Gilmartin’s own clinical observations would require that hypervigilance’s fear-based, on-guard mentality be modulated through the deliberate cultivation of other professional roles.
— Read on papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm

Memphis police numbers dropped by nearly a quarter in recent years – were staffing shortages a factor in the killing of Tyre Nichols?

Police departments have faced recruitment and retention problems since the 2020 George Floyd protests. It has meant some agencies have had to lower standards to attract new officers.
— Read on theconversation.com/memphis-police-numbers-dropped-by-nearly-a-quarter-in-recent-years-were-staffing-shortages-a-factor-in-the-killing-of-tyre-nichols-199078

Taser And Social, Ethnic and Racial Disparities research programme

News report

Key findings from the research suggest:

  • There is a statistical relationship between ethnicity and increased use of Taser relative to other uses of force in some areas. This is mediated by other factors such as mental ill health, but police routine data collection needs to improve to properly understand these patterns;
  • The disproportionate use of Taser across different communities and populations stems from complex interactions between multiple factors, structures, and processes, both within and external to policing;
  • Policing takes place within a society fractured by inequality and structural racism in that Black and other ethnic minority populations are more likely than White people to live in areas of deprivation;
  • A combination of institutional priorities, policies, practices, and demands mean that policing is concentrated into areas of deprivation, which in turn disproportionately impacts on people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds relative to the White population;
  • Given that police are more active in deprived neighbourhoods, this in turn makes Taser use in those areas more likely;
  • Taser has become institutionalised as an organisational level response to perceived threat and risk, which increases its use in situations that previously have been resolved in other ways, such as through dialogue;
  • Police officers count Taser among the least dangerous use of force options available to them, and risks associated with its use are under emphasised during training. Insufficient time is dedicated to discussions of ethnic disproportionality and de-escalation during Taser training, which risks creating a further push towards the use of the weapon;
  • In contrast, affected communities experience Taser as a dehumanising and potentially lethal weapon. They also emphasised the psychological harms and racialised traumas generated through use of the weapon;
  • Public scrutiny mechanisms designed to hold police officers to account lack adequate support.

See the report here:

www.ucl.ac.uk/security-crime-science/sites/security_crime_science/files/taserd_report_13_dec_2023.pdf

Reversal of qualified immunity decision in LAPD fatal shooting

A deep dive into the 2018 case where LAPD Officer Edward Agdeppa fatally shot Albert Dorsey. Explore the subsequent federal lawsuit by Dorsey’s mother against Agdeppa for alleged unreasonable deadly force, and its implications on Fourth Amendment rights.
— Read on www.police1.com/legal/articles/ninth-circuit-reverses-course-and-issues-new-ruling-giving-lapd-officer-qualified-immunity-sntvJPP8OSuv0p1S/