 Leadership Matters: Police Chief Race and Fatal Shootings by Police OfficersSocial Science Quarterly, 2021, vol. 102, issue 1, 407-419 Abstract: Objective This study analyzes the relationship between the race of a city's police chief and the incidence of fatal shootings by police officers. Methods The Washington Post's “Fatal Force Database” is used to calculate per‐capita rates of fatal shootings by police officers occurring between January 1, 2015 and June 1, 2020 for the 100 largest cities in the United States. I compare fatal shooting rates for cities with police chiefs of different races, both unadjusted and adjusted for differences in city characteristics. Results Rates of fatal shootings by officers are almost 50 percent higher in cities with police forces led by white police chiefs than in cities with black police chiefs. Of the 30 cities with the highest rates of fatal shootings, 23 have police departments led by whites and only four have departments led by blacks, while of the 30 cities with the lowest rates, 16 have police departments led by blacks and only 11 are led by whites. Differences in fatal shooting rates persist after controlling for city characteristics. Conclusion Leaders in the highest position of authority may have a powerful effect on the culture of a police department and its resulting behavior. Date: 2021 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:102:y:2021:i:1:p:407-419 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association |
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