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28 Crime & Delinquency 1 (1982)

handle is hein.journals/cadq28 and id is 1 raw text is: Deadly Force in Law Enforcement Arnold Binder Peter Scharf Recent stories appearing in newspapers from cities like Los Angeles, Columbus, Oakland, and Birmingham make it abundantly clear that fatal police shootings have ramifications that extend far beyond the usual concern for fatalities. The justification for taking a human life is presented in historical, philosophical, and legal terms, with particu- lar attention to current codes and recent court decisions that simulta- neously justify and control police shootings. Various issues of control are further highlighted in discussions of the dilemma inherent in ad- ministrative (departmental) regulation of shooting, given the complex decision process leading to a shooting incident. To illustrate the status of empirical knowledge regarding police shooting, the incidence of fatalities among blacks is analyzed. The analysis leads to the conclu- sion that the high mortality rate of blacks in police shootings seems to result primarily from community characteristics, such as the high general rate of violence in the inner cities, rather than from a tendency among police to treat blacks and whites differently solely because of race. But, overall, the data available for decision making are slim, and the need for research is great. A front-page headline of the Los Angeles Times of October 15, 1979, summarized a change in policy that resulted from months of tension between, on the one hand, the Los Angeles Police Department (particularly its chief), and, on the other hand, the black community and the Los Angeles Police Commission. The headline stated, City Police Commission No Longer Rubber Stamp. The tension and ultimate policy change stemmed from the shooting of Mrs. Eulia Love, a thirty-eight- year-old black woman, by two Los Angeles police officers on January 3, 1979. The officers had responded to a request for assistance from bill ARNOLD BINDER: Professor, Program in Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine. PETER SCHARF: Assistant Professor of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine. Research by the authors on the police use of deadly force is supported by Grant No. 79- NI-AX-0134 from the National Institute of Justice. However, all opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any views of the National Institute of Justice. CRIME & DELINQUENCY, January 1982 1

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