The Accuracy of Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting Data: A Response to “The Limitations of Government Databases for Analyzing Fatal Officer-Involved Shootings in the United States”

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-373
Author(s):  
Charlie Beck ◽  
Craig D. Uchida
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Police Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Bureau ◽  
Department Of Justice ◽  
California Department ◽  
Federal Bureau Of Investigation ◽  
Policy Review ◽  
Police Agencies

This essay responds to an article by Williams, Bowman, and Jung concerning fatal officer-involved shootings (OISs) and Federal and state databases that appeared in the Criminal Justice Policy Review. We write in response to the article because of our concern about the claim that data from individual police agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), were classified as “missing” or were not reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and in our case, the California Department of Justice. This essay provides a much-needed context for fatal OISs. The essay (a) defines use of force and explains the level of oversight for OISs, (b) provides a brief analysis of LAPD OISs from 2006 to 2015, (c) discusses the “missing or nonreported” LAPD cases, and (d) presents our conclusions about fatal OIS data.

Challenging the Ordinality of Police Use-of-Force Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 088740342110383
Author(s):  
Scott M. Mourtgos ◽  
Ian T. Adams ◽  
Samuel R. Baty
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Police Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical Force ◽  
Police Use Of Force ◽  
Lethal Force ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Municipal Police ◽  
Force Data

Most use-of-force policies utilized by U.S. police agencies make fundamental ordinal assumptions about officers’ force responses to subject resistance. These policies consist of varying levels of force and resistance along an ordinally ranked continuum of severity. We empirically tested the ordinal assumptions that are ubiquitous to police use-of-force continua within the United States using 1 year’s use-of-force data from a municipal police department. Applying a quantitative technique known as categorical regression with optimal scaling, we found the assumptions of ordinality within the studied department’s use-of-force continuum (which is similar to many police use-of-force continua within the United States) are not met. Specifying physical force as a “lower” force option than less-lethal tools is associated with increased officer injury and decreased subject injury. Our findings call into question use-of-force continua featuring ordinal rankings for varying categories of less-lethal force.

scholarly journals “Red Fascists”: anti-Nazi Germans under suspicion of the FBI

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 659-665
Author(s):  
Wanilton Dudek
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
American Continent ◽  
Federal Bureau ◽  
World War ◽  
Federal Bureau Of Investigation ◽  
The Us

Since the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany in 1933, German opponents of Nazism had look for exile on the American continent, forming complex political movements across the American continent. The presence of the Free German Movement and the Council for the Democratic German in Los Angeles has alerted the US authorities, especially because of evidence of their links with communism and their relations with political movements in Latin America. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in investigating German anti-Nazi exile groups in California and south of the United States border in the context of World War II.  

Oleoresin Capsicum Spray and TASERs

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven G. Brandl ◽  
Meghan S. Stroshine
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Police Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
Event Data ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Municipal Police

In the last few decades, several less lethal forms of force have been introduced, adopted, and deployed by police agencies. Oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray is now used in nearly every department across the United States; the Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle (TASER) is used in the majority of police departments. Despite their widespread use, we still know relatively little about the factors associated with the use of OC spray and TASERs and the effectiveness of these weapons in incapacitating subjects. Knowing when these weapons are used and whether they are effective would provide for a more complete understanding of their strengths and limitations and inform the debate about where less lethal weapons should be placed on use of force continua. This article contributes to the discussion by analyzing 504 use-of-force incidents where the police used OC spray or TASERs during the event. Data were obtained from a large municipal police department on incidents that occurred in 2010 and 2011. Policy considerations and directions for further research are discussed.

Chilbom

2019 ◽  
pp. 105-116
Author(s):  
Alan McPherson
Keyword(s):  
Federal Bureau ◽  
Department Of Justice ◽  
Federal Bureau Of Investigation ◽  
Chilean Government

This chapter begins Part Two of the book, “Investigation.” “CHILBOM” is the code-name that the Federal Bureau of Investigation gives to the Letelier case, suspecting early that the Chilean government is involved but confirming only after a year and a half of investigation. Eugene Propper is the Assistant US Attorney in charge of the investigation at the Department of Justice, with the FBI assisting.

“Most [False Reports] Involve Teens”: Officer Attitudes Toward Teenage Sexual Assault Complainants—A Qualitative Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-45
Author(s):  
Eryn Nicole O’Neal ◽  
Brittany E. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Police Department ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sex Crimes ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Officer Attitudes ◽  
Practical Implications

Scholars, advocates, and victims have repeatedly criticized the police treatment of sexual assault (SA) complainants. Apathetic attitudes and hostile behavior on the part of the police have likely resulted from socialization into a culture that condones the use of force and violence and blames SA victims for their victimization. Using data from in-depth semistructured interviews with 52 Los Angeles Police Department sex crimes detectives, we examine officer attitudes toward teenage complainants of SA. Notably, almost three fourths of the respondents ( n = 38; 73%) mentioned that teenagers lie about SA. Practical implications, theoretical advancements, and directions for future research are discussed.

Responding to the (Dual) Policing Crisis in Ferguson

2021 ◽  
pp. 63-107
Author(s):  
Christy E. Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Police Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Department Of Justice ◽  
The World ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
Civil Rights Division ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Acute Crisis

The police shooting death of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014 set off a policing crisis that reverberated across the world. The United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division (DOJ) intervened in this crisis, initiating a pattern-or-practice investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. This investigation resulted in a transformative Findings Report and federal consent decree. To fully assess the impact of DOJ’s intervention, it is helpful to conceptualize America’s policing crisis as a dual crisis: one acute, the other chronic. When assessing DOJ’s intervention in Ferguson through this lens, readers can see that DOJ’s work is an important, albeit partial, response to the chronic crisis and has only an ancillary impact on the acute crisis.

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