The Micro-Structure of Nonlethal Force: Baseline Data from an Observational Study

Abstract

Despite the fact that the capacity to use force lies at the core of the police role, very little is known about how officers exercise their coercive powers. The lack of knowledge is particularly acute where nonlethal force is concerned. Although recent decades have seen the development of a respectable body of literature on police shootings, the number of academic studies of less severe types of force can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The present paper adds to this short list. Using data from an observational study, it examines officers' use of less than lethal force in encounters with citizens, discusses the implications of the findings, and offers suggestions for future research.