The effect of civilian monitoring on fatal encounters

Abstract

Does civilian monitoring affect police use of force? Using evidence from the Safe Passage program, I exploit geographic and temporal variation in the program's release in a difference-in-difference framework. I find that fatal encounters decrease in areas where the program was implemented by $33\%$. While this effect cannot be directly tied to the presence of monitors, it is robust to multiple subsets of fatal encounters and levels of fixed effects. The program also leads to an increase in police presence as captured by investigatory stop and a very small increase in police usage among civilians. However, civilian sentiments as captured by self-reported trust and safety scores do not change in response to the Safe Passage program; I also find no statistically significant change in complaints against officers after the program.