Congratulations to UC Merced Political Science professor Courtenay Monroe and colleagues Sophia Hatz and Kristine Eck on their publication "Judicial Decisions on Electronic Control Devices and Police Escalation of Force" in The Journal of Politics.
Abstract: Jurisprudence regarding whether police use of Electronic Control Devices (ECDs) constitutes excessive use of force varies substantially across U.S. states and overtime. In this letter, we investigate the extent to which year-to-year switches in U.S.Courts of Appeals decisions lead to escalations in police use of force. Using a generalized difference-in-difference (DID) design, we show that switches in judicial restrictiveness regarding the legal use of ECDs are associated with an increase in the use of lethal force as measured by the number of civilians shot and killed by police officers.
Read the article HERE.
