Armed Encounters between Police and Citizens In Broward County:

Implications for Policy and Practice

Presentation to the Quality of Life Council Nova Southeastern University

June 12, 2012

Tammy Kushner, Psy.D., Principal InvestigatorMarguerite Bryan, Ph.D.

Kelly Armstrong, Doctoral Student/Research AssistantGabriel Suciu, Ph.D.

Nova Southeastern University

Zachary Scott, Training Instructor, ICJSLeslie Taylor, Ph.D.

Broward Sheriff’s Office

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY• All police departments review reports of officers killed in

the line of duty – Allows them to provide training that is current

• Agencies are unable to capture a complete picture of how they respond to armed threats

• The current study undertakes an analysis of armed encounters between police and citizens in Broward County (2000-2008)

• Obtain data from a set of variables pertaining to officer safety and investigate 3 dimensions of armed encounters

GOALS OF THE STUDY

• The current project is a pilot study in Broward County to investigate the factors associated with outcomes of officer armed encounters.

• The goal is to conduct a larger and more in-depth records analysis of law enforcement armed encounters through a records analysis of armed encounters kept by law enforcement agencies across the state of Florida.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• Carry out a records analysis of the actions of officers and suspects in Broward County in situations of armed threats

• Identify possible factors that influence officer and suspect outcomes in encounters of force

• Serve as a foundation to review and assess the training content and methods used to prepare law enforcement officers for encounters of force

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE• Relevant literature of assaults on police mostly deal with

studies on alleged police brutality from citizen complaintsand police use of excessive force:

- One of the earliest Kerner Report (1960) documenting use of police brutality

- Seminal body of research from several field studies by DOJ (1999)

Use of force by police is very low in occurrence

REVIEW OF THE LITERATUREThreat Theory- National study of police killings of civilians

Jacobs and O’Brien (1998)

Focus on macro variables, such as minority inequality in cities

Authority Maintenance Theory-Geoffrey AlpertUnderstanding Police Use of Force, 2004

Police-citizen encounters must be understood as interaction processes rather than discrete events

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

• Literature on police homicide - Killed in the Line of Duty: A Study of Selected

Felonious Killings of Law Enforcement Officers (FBI, 1992.

- “Nice guys finish last: a critical review of killed in the line of duty” King & Sanders, 1997

‘

- DOJ’s LEOKA (Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted) reports done annually since 1972

Concern is more with police safety rather than with police use of force

Research Question

• What are the factors associated with survival of law enforcement officers in violent encounters with civilians involving discharge of a weapon?

• Speculated important factors:a) Training factors—content & amount of

trainingb) Body armor protection

Data Collection

• Obtained by-in by presenting at Chief’s meeting

• 19 different departments within Broward County:Coconut Creek,Coral Springs, Davie, Florida Highway Patrol, Ft. Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, Hillsboro, Hollywood, Lauderhill, Lighthouse Point, Margate, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Plantation, Sea Ranch Lakes, Seminole Indians Reservation, Sunrise, Wilton Manor PD, Broward Sheriff

• Kelly (NSU doctoral student) met with contact person to gather data

CURRENT SURVEY

CURRENT SURVEY

Analysis of Data

Extent of Injury Percentage FrequencyFatal 5.3% 5Serious 1% 1Minor 5.3% 5No Injury 88.4% 84Total 100% 95

Percentage FrequencyDied 5.2% 5Survived 93.8% 90Total 100% N=95

Officer Survive

Extent of injuries sustained to officer

Analysis of Data

N Min Max Mean MedianAge 91 23 76 35.26 34Height 70 5’3” 6’1” 5’5” 5’11”Weight 70 125 275 199 200Distance 69 1’ 120’ 16.68’ 10’Hrs into shift 70 1 9 4.37 4Training/year 63 10 40 26 32.00Academy training 63 930 1,440 1,249 1,363

Descriptive Data of all officers

Analysis of Data

Ethnicity PercentageHispanic 8%Non-Hispanic 92%

100% (n=95)

Race PercentageBlack 3%White 97%

100% (n=96)

Gender PercentageFemale 3%Male 97%

100% (n=96)

Ethnicity, Race and Gender of Officers

Analysis of Data• Prior Military 35% (74)

• Uniform Worn– Class A 71% (87)– Non Class A 29% (87)

• Primary Assignment– Road Patrol 52% (85)– Specialized Unit 37% (85)– Other 11% (85)

• Secondary Assignment– CIT 4% (42)– SWAT/HBT 61% (42)– Field Force 4% (42)– Other 31% (42)

Analysis of Data

• Body Armor77% (56)

• Combat Trained 18% (68)

• Why officer arrived– Call for service 51% (92)– Regular patrol 45% (92)– Serve warrant 4% (92)

• Work Shift– Day 33% (88)– Night 32% (88)– Swing 35% (88)

Variables Found To Be Statistically Significant

Associated With Officer Survival

Variables associated with officer survival

1. Primary Assignment2. Number of yearly in-service training Hours3. Number of hours in entry academy training4. Reason why officer was at incident5. Number of gunshots fired by officer6. Number of hits on suspects made by officer7. Number of hours officer had been working before incident

Analysis of Data

Analysis of Data

Variables Found To Be Statistically Significant Associated With Officer Survival

Primary Assignment

Died Survived Total

Road Patrol 2 (4%) 42 (96%) 44 (100%)Specialized Unit 0 (0%) 30 (100%) 30 (100%)Other (Investigator/Supervisor)

3 (30%) 7 (70%) 10 (100%)

N = 84Pearson Chi-Square= 12.384, p=.002, Asymptotic sig.(2-sided) Fisher’s Exact sig.=.006

Primary Assignment & Survivability

Analysis of Data

Variables Found To Be Statistically Significant Associated With Officer Survival

Yearly In-Service Training & Survivability

Number of Yearly In-Service Training HrsReceived

Died Survived Total

10 Hours 5 (15%) 29 (85%) 34 (100%)20 Hours 0 (0%) 4 (100%) 4 (100%)32 Hours 0 (0%) 13 (100%) 13 (100%)40 Hours 0 (0%) 43 (100%) 43 (100%)

N = 94

Pearson Chi Square=9.319, p=.02, Asymptotic sig.(2-sided) Fisher’s Exact sig.=.04

Analysis of Data

Variables Found To Be Statistically Significant Associated With Officer Survival

Academy Training Hours & SurvivabilityNumber of Entry Academy Training Hrs Received

Died Survived Total

930 Hours 0 (0%) 4 (100%) 4 (100%)1120 Hours 5 (15%) 29 (85%) 34 (100%)1210 Hours 0 (0%) 5 (100%) 5 (100%)1360 Hours 0 (0%) 4 (100%) 4 (100%)1366 Hours 0 (0%) 29 (100%) 29 (100%)1370 Hours 0 (0%) 6 (100%) 6 (100%)1440 Hours 0 (0%) 13 (100%) 13 (100%)

Kendall’s tau b=.215, p=.02 Spearman correlation = .237, p.=.02

Analysis of Data

Variables Found To Be Statistically Significant Associated With Officer Survival

Reason Officer at Scene & SurvivabilityWhy was the Officer at the Scene

Died Survived Total

Call for Service

0 (0%) 47 (100%) 47 (100%)

Regular Patrol/Self-Initiated/ Other

4 (10%) 37 (90%) 41 (100%)

Service of Warrant

1 (33%) 2 (67%) 3 (100%)

N = 91

Pearson Chi-Square = 8.644, p=.01, Asymptotic sig. (2-sided)

Analysis of Data

Other Variables (Scale) Associated With Officer Survival

Test Statistic Statistical Significance

Number of gun shots fired by officer

422.500(Mann-Whitney U)

p=.000Asymptotic sig. 2 sided

Number of hits made by officer

315.000(Mann-Whitney U)

p=.012 Asymptoticsig. 2 sided

Number of hours worked that day before the incident

251.500(Mann-Whitney U)

p=.041 Asymptotic sig. 2 sided

Analysis of Data

1. BODY ARMOR2. PRIOR COMBAT TRAINING3. PRIOR MILITARY EXPERIENCE4. UNIFORM WORN5. WORK SHIFT6. SECONDARYASSIGNMENT(SWAT/NONSWAT)7. OFFICER EFFECTIVENESS AGAINST SUSPECT8. AGE9. WEIGHT10.HEIGHT11.DISTANCE (from suspect)

Variables NOT associated with officer survival

IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE• Impact how police officers are trained to reduce

serious injury and death.• Increases the likelihood of citizens to be better

protected.• Influence departmental policies in training,

standard operating procedures.• Community benefits because better training for

officers leads to less dangerous encounters with suspects and citizens.

Lessons Learned

• Data collection – difficulties of gathering “complete” data. Possibly review public records.

• No option for agency to enter data themselves.

Dissemination• Initial presentation to Broward Chiefs• Presentation at the Southern Criminal Justice

Association 2010.

• Plan:– Submit for publication, “Police Practice & Research.”– Chief’s meeting in August 2012– Report sent to all 19 participating agencies– Present at Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences,

Dallas, TX (March 2013)

Sustainability

• May 30, 2012 submitted NIJ grant to expand Armed Encounters study to the state of Florida.