LITERATURE REVIEW:

VARIABLES IN EXCESSIVE FORCE

Variable

Citation (in APA format) Methods used in study

Police characteristics
McElvain,J.P., &
(Experience, race,
Kposowa,A.J.
gender, age) and internal
(2005). Police
affairs investigations for
officer
allegations of use of
characteristics and
force.
the likelihood of
using deadly force.
Crime Justice and
Behavior, 35(4),
505-521.
doi:10.1177/009385
4807313995

Findings

Cumulative logistic
regression County
Sheriffs Department for
the years 1996 through
2000.

It was concluded that

investigation for
allegations of use of
force by officers might
be reduced considerably
if more attention were
paid to training and
mentoring of new and
younger officers.

This study contributes to Brandl,S.G., &

Analyses were
the literature on police
conducted on 1,084
Stroshine,M.S.
use of force by
(2012). The role of police officers employed
examining the role of
in a large municipal
officer attributes,
officers background
job characteristics, police department. Use
characteristics, job
and arrest activity of force data were
characteristics (patrol
in explaining police obtained from 477
area and shift
official departmental
use of force.
assignment), and arrest
reports from 2010. Two
Criminal Justice
activity in explaining
data sets were
Policy Review,
variation in the
constructed and
24(5), 551-572.
frequency with which
doi:10.1177/088740 analyzed in this study.
officers use force.
3412452424

Results suggest that a

small proportion of
officers who frequently
use force differ in
important and
significant ways from
officers who use force
less often (or not at all).

The study identifies the Brandl,S.G., Stroshine, The data for the study
characteristic of police
were obtained from a
M.S., & Frank, J.
officers (officers
(2001). Who are the large mid-western
background attributes,
municipal police
complaint-prone
arrest activity, and
department. The
officers? An
assignment) that most
examination of the population that the
frequently receive
police department
relationship
complaints from citizens
served was
between police
regarding the use of
officers' attributes, approximately 45
excessive force.
percent White and 40
arrest activity,
percent Africanassignment, and
citizens' complaints American.
about excessive
force. Journal of
Criminal Justice,

The results show that

arrest activity, officer
age, and officer gender
are most strongly related
to the receipt of citizens
complaints about
excessive force and
differentiate highcomplaint officers from
low-complaint officers.

29, 521-529.
Data from 186 officer- McElvain, J.P., &
involved shooting were
Kposowa,A.J.
used to examine
(2008). Police
whether race effects
officer
existed and, if so, would
characteristics and
be eliminated or
the likelihood of
attenuated by
using deadly force.
controlling for officer
Crime Justice and
gender, education, age,
Behavior, 35(4),
and history of shooting.
505-521.
Doi:10.1177/00938
54807313995

Data were collected

from the Riverside
County Sheriffs
Department (RCSC), the
44th largest law
enforcement department
in the United States
based on Law
Enforcement
Management and
Administrative
Statistics.

Results show that male

officers were more
likely to shoot than
female officers, and
college-educated
officers were less likely
to be involved in
shootings than officers
with no college
education.

The current study adds Paoline, III,E.A., &

to research by
Terrill,W. (2007).
examining the impact of
Police education,
education and
experience, and the
experience on one of the
use of force.
core features of the
Criminal Justice
police role: the use of
and Behavior,
coercion
34(2), 179-196.
doi:10.1177/009385
4806290239

This study uses two data

sets (i.e., systematic
social observation
[SSO] of patrol officers
and in-person interviews
of those officers) from
the Project on Policing
Neighborhoods [POPN],
which examined
policing in Indianapolis,
Indiana, and St.
Petersburg, Florida,
during the summer of
1996 and 1997,
respectively. Patrol
observation was
conducted in 12 patrol
beats in each city.

The findings indicate

that varying levels of
education and
experience are related to
differences in the use of
coercion in encounters
with citizens.
Encounters involving
officers with any college
education results in
significantly less verbal
force compared to those
with a high school
education. However,
only those encounters
involving officers with a
4-year degree result in
significantly less
physical force. Finally,
encounters involving
officers with greater
experience result in less
verbal and physical
force.