Police use of force in small Florida agencies: A social learning perspective

The vast majority of studies surrounding uses of force have focused on larger police agencies. Although there have been numerous use-of-force studies, understanding police use of excessive force has been given little attention. This study examined several variables surrounding use-of-force incidents obtained from small Florida agencies. Additionally, the study attempted to explore a legitimate theoretical understanding into the explanation for abuse of force occurrences within the agencies. The study examined use-of-force data via self-reported surveys and the participants consisted of presently sworn officers who were from small (15-25 sworn) Florida agencies. The researcher provided third party scenarios depicting a suspect's actions and the choice of force used by the officer. The participant decided if he or she thought the officer's actions were deemed appropriate given the specific circumstances. The researcher also applied the tenets associated with Aker's social learning theory to see if the theory could serve as an adequate explanation for abuses within the sample. The results did not show officer demographics (years on the job, job title, education, age) as being significant predictors of officers' acceptance of the abuse of force scenarios. However, the results of this study did indicate a statistically significant correlation between the social learning tenets and an officer's perception of appropriate use of force.