Threat Dynamics and Police Use of Force

Abstract

Police officers’ use of force (UoF) has traditionally been understood vis-à-vis subject resistance, but researchers have recently argued for a greater emphasis on subject threat. We examine the role of static and dynamic threat measures, consisting of indicators for ability, opportunity, and intent, in police UoF while accounting for subject resistance. We use data from a large multiagency sample of coded police force narratives and a series of multilevel models that nest temporally ordered force sequences (dyadic exchanges between officers and subjects) within their respective UoF incidents. Our results suggest that (1) police force incidents are dynamic with levels of force and resistance often fluctuating throughout the incident, (2) each element of subject threat significantly predicts force, net of resistance and other variables, and (3) the elements of threat interact with one another to explain force, but not completely as expected. Our results suggest that subject threat, in addition to resistance, provides important insights for understanding when officers either use or escalate force. We conclude with suggestions for those interested in further exploring the intersection of threat, resistance, and police UoF.