The Determinants of Deadly Force: A Structural Analysis of Police Violence

TLDR

Police killings are theorized to be higher in jurisdictions with greater minority populations, mayoral race, reform politics, and higher interpersonal violence. Tobit analyses of 170 cities reveal that racial inequality, higher murder rates, and black population growth drive police killings, while a black mayor mitigates black killings, supporting political explanations.

Abstract

Political or threat explanations for the state's use of internal violence suggest that killings committed by the police should be greatest in stratified jurisdictions with more minorities. Additional political effects such as race of the city's mayor or reform political arrangements are examined. The level of interpersonal violence the police encounter and other problems in departmental environments should account for these killing rates as well. Tobit analyses of 170 cities show that racial inequality explains police killings. Interpersonal violence measured by the murder rate also accounts for this use of lethal force. Separate analyses of police killings of blacks show that cities with more blacks and a recent growth in the black population have higher police killing rates of blacks, but the presence of a black mayor reduces these killings. Such findings support latent and direct political explanations for the internal use of lethal force to preserve order.