Police Use Of Force And Suspect Resistance

The Micro Process Of The Police-Suspect Encounter

Datos Bibliográficos

ID23321377
AutoresWilliam Terrill (0000-0002-3076-1869, Northeastern University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2003
Volumen6
Número1
Páginas51-83
Fecha de publicación2003-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolice Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1098-6111 • E-ISSN: 1552-745X
EditorialSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1098611102250584
OpenAlexW1965595881
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas62
Referencias citadas15

Using data collected as part of an observational study of the police in Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Petersburg, Florida, this research examines 3,544 police-suspect encounters in an attempt to better understand the application of nonlethal force and the relationship between officer use of force and suspect resistance. More specifically, it examines the extent of and variation in force and resistance and the interplay between the two. Results show that when both verbal and physical forms of coercion are considered, force occurs quite frequently—in more than half of all encounters. Conversely, suspects displayed some form of resistance in 12% of all encounters. When multiple uses of force and resistance within individual encounters are considered, the frequency of both behaviors increases substantially. In addition, a majority of both forceful and resistant behaviors fall on the lower end of continuum (e.g., verbal commands as opposed to striking with a baton). Encounters that began with some form of force resulted in a greater frequency of subsequent suspect resistance and an increased use of additional force at some later point in the encounters—calling into question the utility of a “take charge” approach to maintaining control within police-suspect encounters.

Coercion (linguistics) · Criminology · Interrogation · Officer · Political science · Resistance (ecology) · Suspect · Use of force · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology