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A skeptical reflection: Contextualizing police shooting decisions with skin-tone
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 May 2022
Abstract
This commentary expands the discussion of Cesario's Missing Forces Flaw by identifying and discussing variables that influence police shooting decisions but are often absent from bias-based research. Additionally, the closing identifies novel recommendations for future contextually related research.
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- Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press
References
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Academic research in criminology and social psychology has presented a historical divergence in methods, results, and recommendations in their attempts to operationalize the influence of implicit racial bias on deadly police shootings (Correll, Hudson, Guillermo, & Ma, Reference Correll, Hudson, Guillermo and Ma2014; Fridell, Reference Fridell2016; Hollis & Jennings, Reference Hollis and Jennings2018; James, James, & Vila, Reference James, James and Vila2016; Klinger & Slocum, Reference Klinger and Slocum2017; Nix, Campbell, Byers, & Alpert, Reference Nix, Campbell, Byers and Alpert2017 ; Rotello, Kelly, & Heit, Reference Rotello, Kelly and Heit2018; Worrall, Bishopp, & Terrill, Reference Worrall, Bishopp and Terrill2020). While disparity between studies exists, findings of bias often result in recommendations for organizational reforms such as implicit-bias training or the issuance of body-worn cameras (BWCs). These recommendations persist in the absence of evidence showing an associated reduction in police shootings (Engel, McManus, & Isaza, Reference Engel, McManus and Isaza2020); Klinger & Slocum, Reference Klinger and Slocum2017).
Yet, despite academic disagreement on this topic, U.S. law enforcement agencies spend limited training time and economic resources on questionable de-biasing reform efforts (Engel et al., Reference Engel, McManus and Isaza2020; FitzGerald, Martin, Berner, & Hurst, Reference FitzGerald, Martin, Berner and Hurst2019; Forscher et al., Reference Forscher, Lai, Axt, Ebersole, Herman, Devine and Nosek2019; Klinger & Slocum, Reference Klinger and Slocum2017; Paluck & Green, Reference Paluck and Green2009). These reform efforts have neither reduced the racial disparity nor the overall number of fatal police shootings (Washington Post Fatal Force Database, 2015–2021). These facts alone should raise the level of skepticism concerning the epistemology of police shooting research when evaluating the influence of racial bias. However, Cesario describes additional flaws found within current research, of which one, the missing forces flaw, seems most prudent to expand upon in this narrative.
Cesario identifies and defines the missing forces flaw as a deficiency within implicit bias research. The missing forces flaw, as applied to police shootings, presents as an insufficient inclusion of salient contextual factors that may impact officer's decision to shoot. Cesario mentions some of these contextual factors (i.e., violent crime rates), but many other influences – for example, organizational, supervisory, environmental, and situational – are found in the literature (McFarlane & Amin, Reference McFarlane and Amin2021). Two important factors influencing police shootings and not mentioned by Cesario are (a) police policy/training and its impact on how a subject's antecedent behavior is perceived, and (b) previous findings from deadly force judgment and decision-making (DFJDM) simulator-based research methods.
Police policy/training and subject antecedent behavior
Police officers across the nation are taught to evaluate the severity of the crime, the level of active resistance from the suspect, and the potential for injury to themselves/others before making a shooting decision (Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 1989). Although no known experimental research explicitly examines these variables in aggregate, the last two criteria are well-established as influential to police shooting decisions (Hine, Porter, Westera, Alpert, & Allen, Reference Hine, Porter, Westera, Alpert and Allen2019; Shane & Swenson, Reference Hine, Porter, Westera, Alpert and Allen2020; Wheeler, Phillips, Worrall, & Bishopp, Reference Wheeler, Phillips, Worrall and Bishopp2018). In fact, antecedent subject behavior proximal to any police use of force, including shootings, has repeatedly been identified as one of, if not the most, influential factors (Smith, Engel, & Cherkauskas, Reference Smith, Engel and Cherkauskas2019).
Within the appropriate context, some subject behaviors that influence police shootings include quick or aggressive actions (i.e., furtive movements), closing the distance with officers, intoxication, being armed or acting as if armed, failing to comply with officer commands, and attacking or attempting to disarm an officer (Aveni, Reference Aveni2008; Fachner & Carter, Reference Fachner and Carter2015; Hine et al., Reference Hine, Porter, Westera, Alpert and Allen2019; Klinger & Slocum, Reference Klinger and Slocum2017; Shane & Swenson, Reference Shane and Swenson2020). These same subject behaviors are often conceptually associated with shoot/don't-shoot decision-making points found within police law enforcement training (e.g., DFJDM simulators) (James et al., Reference James, James and Vila2016). Therefore, although Cesario cautions against “victim-blaming,” the idea of ignoring an individual's antecedent behaviors proximal to a police shooting is, bluntly, nonsensical.
Simulator research
James et al. (Reference James, James and Vila2016) improved the ecological validity of studies of racial bias in police shooting decisions using DFJDM simulators. The simulator method allows for a semi-realistic interaction between an officer and a subject using a projected video and laser-based weapons. The simulator method differs from computer-based first-person shooter research use of models (Correll et al., Reference Correll, Hudson, Guillermo and Ma2014), most notably for its interactive capabilities and replica weapons. Using DFJDM simulators, James and colleagues have consistently found no significant anti-black shooting behaviors by police participants (James et al., Reference James, James and Vila2016; James, James, & Vila, Reference James, James and Vila2018). Hence, the DFJDM simulator research method should create skepticism and drive attempts at replication. Additional reservations are cultivated by evaluating the long list of DFJDM simulator research articles identifying other variables that influence police shooting decisions.
For instance, using the DFJDM simulator method, Nieuwenhuys, Savelsbergh, and Oudejans (Reference Nieuwenhuys, Savelsbergh and Oudejans2012, Reference Nieuwenhuys, Savelsbergh and Oudejans2015) found anxiety induced by a pain-inducing “shoot-back” cannon significantly decreased police shooting response time and increased shooting errors. Other studies using DFJDM simulators found officer experience, subject demeanor, clothing, age, type of crime, and variations in subject movement patterns (i.e., rapid turns) are influential to police shootings (Aveni, Reference Aveni2008; James et al., Reference James, James and Vila2018; Suss & Ward, Reference Suss and Ward2018).
The future: Formalizing the framework
Reality-based police shooting research is arguably a more complicated and therefore an underused method. However, technology and government transparency has provided researchers with a mechanism to conduct naturalistic research. For example, prosecutor's offices across the United States provide shooting memoranda outlining details of a police shooting. Researchers might analyze these documents via qualitative content analysis (QCA) to identify factors influential to a police shooting. Associated BWC footage may also be part of the investigation (Wheeler et al., Reference Wheeler, Phillips, Worrall and Bishopp2018). A sample of these cases could be analyzed to determine individual variables influencing police shootings. A subsequent comparative analysis between demographic groups that account for these variables may then be evaluated for racial disparity between groups.
In closing, Klinger (Reference Klinger2012) reminds us that skepticism of causation is a foundational element of science. The novel framework Cesario suggests - a portion of which I expanded upon in this narrative - provides a foundation for skepticism on the interconnections between implicit racial bias and police shooting decisions. Support for Cesario can be found in the many critical reviews (e.g., methodological flaws) of studies exploring the influence of racial bias on police shootings (Fridell, Reference Fridell2016; Hollis & Jennings, Reference Hollis and Jennings2018; James et al., Reference James, James and Vila2016; Klinger & Slocum, Reference Klinger and Slocum2017; Wheeler et al., Reference Wheeler, Phillips, Worrall and Bishopp2018). Therefore, for both ethical and scientific purposes, researchers should embrace Cesario's narrative not only to better understand group disparity, but also to advance a more rigorous approach to police decision-making research.
Conflict of interest
None.