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The Effects of Suspect Race and Situation Hazard on Police Officer Shooting Behavior
Author(s) -
Inn Andres,
Wheeler Alan C.,
Sparling Cynthia L.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1977.tb02415.x
Subject(s) - officer , suspect , race (biology) , psychology , hazard , population , criminology , social psychology , demography , political science , law , sociology , gender studies , chemistry , organic chemistry
Shooting incidents involving patrol officers are examined for the effect of suspect race and degree of hazard in the number of shots fired and hits made on suspects. Additional tests examine frequencies of shooting incidents among Blacks and Whites with respect to city population and various measures of police‐citizen contact. Finally, fatalities are examined with respect to involvement in shooting and arrest rates. The results suggest an effect for degree of hazard; however, there was no evidence to suggest police bias against Blacks.