NCJ Number
81196
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 72 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1981) Pages: 1813-1866
Date Published
1981
Length
53 pages
Annotation
Based primarily on investigations of shootings by the Chicago Police between 1974 and 1978, this article discusses the methodology used by the Chicago Law Enforcement Study Group to examine police shootings, types of shooting incidents, and racial factors involved in the shootings.
Abstract
The study analyzed all shootings of and by Chicago Police Department officers reported within the city limits from January 1974 through December 1978. Off-duty, on-duty, and unintentional shootings were included. Data were collected from nonpolice agencies that exercised any review over such incidents and from newspaper files, the Chicago Police Department's internal investigative files, and other police records. Following a summary of coding and analytic techniques, the article categorizes the circumstances in which the Chicago police shot 523 civilians during the study period. More than half of all civilians shot reportedly were engaged in using or threatening to use a gun, while 14 percent were shot for either using or threatening to use physical force or a deadly weapon other than a gun. Unintentional shootings accounted for 10 percent of the cases and involved disproportionate numbers of females and juveniles, although most were suspected of a crime. Other categories included possessing a deadly weapon without attempting to use it and flight without resistance, the second largest group at 17 percent. Shooting types were also analyzed according to outcome -- wounded (74 percent for all types) or killed (26 percent). Differing shooting accuracy and perceptions of danger are among the circumstances that explain differing fatality rates when compared with shooting types. Approximately 20 percent of the civilians shot were white, 70 percent were black, and 10 percent were Hispanic. Reasons for this disproportion are explored through comparisons of shooting data with contextual factors such as population figures, arrest statistics, and the racial composition of the Chicago police force, as well as an examination of the data to detect racially linked patterns. This analysis did not produce any definitive support for racism as a factor in police shootings of civilians. Patterns that suggest overinvolvement of any particular racial group of officers could be explained by residency and deployment patterns. Tables and 80 footnotes are included. For Part II, see NCJ 84012.