SAGE Journal Articles

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Journal Article 1: White, M. D. (2003). Examining the impact of external influences on police use of deadly force over time. Evaluation Review, 27, 50–78.

URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/stoken/default+domain/PtprHhSqJ6PP3jh3ZfsA/full

Abstract: Prior deadly force research has sought to identify appropriate mechanisms that can effectively control police officers’ decisions to use deadly force. However, the relative impact of external discretion control policies on police shooting behavior remains largely unknown. Using data from Philadelphia for a period of more than two decades, this article employs interrupted time-series analysis (ARIMA) to examine the impact of legislation and judicial intervention on use of deadly force by Philadelphia police officers. The article also considers the impact of larger, community-level characteristics on levels of deadly force. Findings produced modest support for the potential effect of external discretion control policies and community-level factors on police shooting behavior but generally suggest that dynamic changes in the internal working environment can outweigh the influence of the external mechanisms.

Journal Article 2: Zeoli, A. M., Norris, A., & Brenner, H. (2010). A summary and analysis of warrantless arrest statutes for domestic violence in the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 2811–2833.

URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/stoken/default+domain/eemcHdYY9d8AG3bZC9de/full

Abstract: In the United States, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted statutes that allow police officers to make warrantless arrests for domestic violence given probable cause; however, state laws differ from one another in multiple, important ways. Research on domestic violence warrantless arrest laws rarely describe them as anything more than discretionary, preferred, or mandatory, either within their analyses or within the texts of their publications; researchers, and their audiences, may not be aware of the vast and potentially important differences among these laws. In this article, we list the domestic violence warrantless arrest laws for each state, and discuss them in terms of five common elements: the phrasing of the arrest authority; whether additional factors to domestic violence are required to trigger the arrest authority; qualifications to the arrest authority; time limits for warrantless arrest to occur; and whether police officers are required to report why they made a dual or no arrest. We then analyze the common elements of the laws, paying particular attention to how they may encourage or discourage the arrest of alleged domestic violence perpetrators. It is critical that researchers, advocates, and policymakers are aware of these variations in state statutes when conducting or interpreting research or making policy recommendations.