State-mandated transparency: A discussion and examination of deadly force data among law enforcement agencies in Texas
Abstract
The current paper provides a critical assessment of the available data on police use of deadly force, including the lack of official, national-level measures, and the recent scholarly reliance on Internet, crowd sourced information. In addition, it presents an alternative data source on the topic in the form of legislative, state-mandated collection systems. Starting in September of 2015, Texas became one of a handful of states in which law enforcement agencies are now required to report all incidents where police gunfire injures and/or kills a citizen. This paper previews the Texas data – including its strengths and weaknesses – in addition to performing a descriptive analysis of police shootings that resulted in injury/death for years 2016 and 2017. The potential for state-mandated data collection programs to impact research, accountability, and policy are discussed.
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Prior studies indicate that only a portion of people shot by police die.
“Studies from the 1970s through present day indicate that those killed by police gunfire are but a portion of the total number of people shot or shot at.”
From Factors associated with police shooting mortality: A focus on race and a plea for more comprehensive data (2021) · cites this paper as [7]
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“Louis Metropolitan Police Department died from 2003–2012 [6], and 49% of individuals struck by police gunfire throughout the state of Texas died from 2016–2017 [7].”
BackgroundSelf-citation
- Authors
- Shjarback, J. A.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at El Paso (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shjarback, John A.
- ORCID
- Shjarback, John A.
- Venue
- Journal of Crime and Justice
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-12-03
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-17
- ISSN
- 0735-648X (ISSN-L)
- 2158-9119
- OpenAlex
- W2903086550
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 8.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Crime and Justice (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
- Social Sciences › Health › Gun Ownership and Violence Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Keywords
- police use of deadly force, police shootings, law enforcement transparency, Texas, police accountability, official statistics, crowdsourced data
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