Police Use of Force in Metro-Dade, Florida, and Eugene and Springfield, Oregon, 1993-1995
Description
This study gathered data on police use of force in
Metro-Dade, Florida, and Eugene and Springfield, Oregon. The study
differed from previous research in that it addressed the level of
force used by the police relative to the suspect's level of
resistance. The data for Metro-Dade (Part 1) were collected from
official Metro-Dade Police Department Control of Persons Reports from
the last quarter of 1993 and all of 1994 and 1995. The Eugene and
Springfield dataset (Part 2) was created from items in the Police
Officers' Essential Physical Work Report Form, which was completed by
members of the Eugene and Springfield, Oregon, Police Departments
during April 1995. The dataset includes all police-citizen contacts,
rather than being limited to the use-of-force situations captured by
the Metro-Dade data. In Part 1 (Metro-Dade Data), information on the
subject includes impairment (i.e., alcohol and drugs), behavior
(i.e., calm, visibly upset, erratic, or highly agitated), level of
resistance used by the subject, types of injuries to the subject, and
types of force used by the subject. Information on the officer
includes level of force used, medical treatment, and injuries. Other
variables include ethnic match between officer and the subject and
relative measures of force. Demographic variables include age,
gender, race, and ethnicity of both the subject and the officer. In
Part 2 (Oregon Data), information is provided on whether the officer
was alone, how work was initiated, elapsed time until arrival,
reasons for performance, perceived mental state and physical
abilities of the suspect, amount and type of resistance by the
suspect, if another officer assisted, perceived extent of effort used
by the suspect, type of resistance used by the suspect, if the
officer was knocked or wrestled to the ground, if the officer
received an injury, level of effort used to control the suspect,
types of control tactics used on the suspect, whether the officer was
wearing tactical gear, how restraint devices were applied to inmate,
time taken to get to, control, resolve, and remove the problem, how
stressful the lead-up time or the period following the incident was,
if the officer worked with a partner, types of firearm used, and if
force was used. Demographic variables include age, gender, weight,
and height of both the suspect and officer, and the officer's duty
position.