A Decade of Police Use of Deadly Force Research (2011–2020)

• Author: Daniela Oramas Mora,William Terrill,Jacob Foster
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10887679221123591
• Published date: 01 February 2023
• Date: 01 February 2023
• Subject Matter: Special Issue Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/10887679221123591

Homicide Studies

2023, Vol. 27(1) 6 –33

© 2022 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/10887679221123591

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Special Issue Article

A Decade of Police Use

of Deadly Force Research

(2011–2020)

Daniela Oramas Mora1, William Terrill1,

and Jacob Foster1

Abstract

The current study provides findings from a systematic review of the police use of

deadly force literature over the most recently completed decade (2011–2020). After

an exhaustive search of four scientific databases, 1,190 peer-reviewed articles related

to the use of force were identified. Of these, 181 articles specifically examined deadly

force, with 86 of them drawing on such force as the dependent variable. We found

that the number of articles examining police use of deadly force increased dramatically

over the course of the study period and encompassed a wide range of determinants

of behavior. Citizen possession of a weapon continues to be the most consistent risk

factor of police use of deadly force across decades of policing literature. Additionally,

while many studies have attempted to examine the link between race and lethal

force, a determination of such a relationship is difficult given both mixed findings and

a lack of available national data.

Keywords

police use of deadly force, officer-involved shootings, lethal force, use of force

Introduction

Within a democratic republic, and for the purpose of pursuing public safety, the police

are vested with enormous power in which they have the legal authority to stop, search,

arrest, and use coercive force. As such, a critical task of policing is the ability to

maintain effective social control while maintaining individual legal rights (Walker,

1Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA

Corresponding Author:

Daniela Oramas Mora, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State University, 411 N.

Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA.

Email: doramasm@asu.edu

1123591HSXXXX10.1177/10887679221123591Homicide StudiesOramas Mora et al.

research-article2022

Oramas Mora et al. 7

1993). Given such power and with it the potential for abuse, scholars have long studied

police discretionary decision-making (Davis, 1969). Not surprisingly, a key part of

this research centers on the most extreme form of power—deadly force.

The purpose of this article is to provide a high-level look into the most recently

completed decade (2011–2020) of lethal force research focusing mainly on how often

and why the police use such force. Clearly, concerns over deadly force have been

exasperated by a series of high-profile incidents that have resulted in civil unrest in

many communities across the United States (Terrill & Ingram, 2016). Bolstered by the

role that technology (e.g., smartphones, body-worn cameras) plays in capturing use of

force interactions, the general public has greater access to viewing police behavior

than at any time in history. More specifically, before the chosen decade, there were

virtually no body-worn cameras, and citizens were rather limited in their capabilities

to record officer-citizen encounters due to an absence of smartphones with the ability

to record videos. Therefore, the period being examined is unique in that during this

time, many of these technologies were being heavily introduced, thereby making the

use of force encounters more readily available to view. Given police use of lethal force

encounters are perhaps the most important type of police-citizen interaction in assess-

ing and understanding the legitimacy of the police role, continuing to understand what

we know, and what we do not, is vitally important.

We begin with a brief overview of key research findings that preceded the most

recent decade. A comprehensive review of the full scoop of this earlier work in a

detailed fashion is beyond the scope of the current inquiry. Our primary focus is on

identifying the breadth of deadly force-related topics that researchers have examined

between 2011 and 2020, the extent to which there has been an increase in published

research, the available data sources for which to draw on and their related limitations,

the frequency in which the police resort to deadly force, and importantly the character-

istics and correlates related to this most extreme use of police power.

It is important to note a key limitation of deadly force research at the outset, both in

terms of conceptualization and operationalization. As first stated by Fyfe more than

40 years ago (1978, p. 32), “[d]eadly force is physical force capable of or likely

[emphasis added] to kill; it does not always kill.” More recently, Klinger et al. (2016,

p. 197) reinforced the issue, stating,

[d]eath at the hands of the police is not a sound operationalization of the concept “police

use of deadly force.” This is so for the simple reason that all available evidence indicates

that no one is killed in most incidents in which police officers discharge their firearms.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of consistency across studies in which researchers

have drawn on officer-involved shootings resulting in death verses officer-involved

shootings regardless of death as a result. As such, and at the risk of exacerbating the

issue, splitting study findings in our review into these two different categories would

make it exceedingly difficult for readers to consume. Thus, we rely on the general

phrase deadly or lethal force to cut across shootings resulting in, and not resulting in,

death.