Assessing Public Perceptions of Police Use-of-Force: Legal Reasonableness and Community Standards

Abstract

Investigations and prosecutions of police use-of-force incidents are typically based on the legal standard of 'objective reasonableness,' formulated by the Supreme Court in Graham v. Connor (1989). More recently, discussions have pivoted toward whether community expectations may deviate from existing legal standards. We design and implement a survey that utilizes a series of experimental factorial vignettes to measure public perceptions of police use-of-force. We leverage an item response theory framework to assess whether public standards for police use-of-force align with legal standards. Our results suggest that the public, regardless of respondent race, generally supports use-of-force that is legally reasonable, and that legally unreasonable use-of-force fails to garner public support.