On This Page

About this Topic

The collection of law enforcement use of force statistics has been mandated as a responsibility of the Attorney General since the passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Title XXI: State and Local Law Enforcement, Subtitle D: Police Pattern or Practice, Section 210402, states the responsibility of the Attorney General to collect data on excessive force. Specifically—

In 1995, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) convened a Police Use of Force Workshop to discuss the requirements of Section 210402. Challenges on the collection of use of force statistics were discussed, including the identification and collection of excessive force data. The first step to measure excessive force is to capture the use of any action deemed as force, regardless of whether or not it is excessive. Therefore, recommendations were made on how to measure law enforcement use of force nationally with the ability to identify which acts were excessive. Two data collection streams were highlighted for this effort: BJS and NIJ sponsored the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) National Use of Force Database Center and BJS's Police–Public Contact Survey (PPCS). Since 1995, additional efforts have been made by BJS and other DOJ agencies to capture a broader understanding of law enforcement use of force, including training and policy. The following projects have collected data on various aspects of law enforcement use of force:

• Police–Public Contact Survey (PPCS)
  Fielded by BJS in 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2015, the PPCS is a national survey of the nature and characteristics of citizen contacts with the law enforcement. Data are collected from a nationally representative sample of nearly 90,000 residents age 16 or older, and include information on face-to-face contacts with the law enforcement, such as traffic stops, arrests, handcuffing and incidents of law enforcement use of force. Since 1999, citizens have been asked about law enforcement acting properly and use of excessive force.
  • Among persons who had contact with police in 2008, an estimated 1.4% had force used or threatened against them during their most recent contact, which was not statistically different from the percentages in 2002 (1.5%) and 2005 (1.6%). [NCJ 234599]
  • In 2011, about 6% of drivers pulled over in traffic stops reported the threat or use of force during their most recent contact with police. Of these drivers, 33% believed the threat or use of force was excessive. [NCJ 242937]

• Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD) program
  From 2003 to 2011, BJS collected a national census of information on persons who died either during the process of arrest or while in the custody of state or local law enforcement personnel. Data collected included information on the decedent’s demographic characteristics, the manner and cause of death, the law enforcement agency involved with the death, and circumstances of the incident, such as weapon use and alleged criminal behavior of the decedent. While the collection continued through early 2013, published data are currently available through 2009. BJS previously conducted a study of two data sources on law enforcement homicides—the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Reports and the ARD program—and found that each source captured only about half of the expected number of homicides by law enforcement officers for the period from 2003 to 2011. Currently, BJS is conducting a pilot study to improve the completeness of its collection of in-custody deaths and deaths in the process of arrest through the ARD program.
  • From 2003 to 2009, a reported 4,813 persons died during or shortly after law enforcement personnel attempted to arrest or restrain them.
    • About 60 percent of arrest-related deaths (2,931) were classified as homicides by law enforcement personnel. [NCJ 235385]
  • The ARD program was estimated to cover between 24% and 55% of all law enforcement homicides from 2003 to 2009. In 2011, 361 law enforcement homicides were reported to the ARD program, which was estimated to cover between 59% and 69% of all law enforcement homicides in the United States.
    • It is estimated the universe of law enforcement homicides in the United States, on average, is between 928 and 1,242 per year. [NCJ249099]

• Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS)
  Fielded by BJS in 1987, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007, and 2013, the LEMAS data collection surveys a nationally-representative sample of state and local law enforcement agencies about personnel, pay and benefits, budgets, record and information management systems, and community policing. Since 1987, LEMAS has asked self-representing agencies about the existence of use of force policy, as well as use of lethal and less-lethal weapons. Since 1997, agencies were asked about investigation policies pertaining to citizen complaints of excessive force. The 2003 and 2007 LEMAS surveys also included questions about the annual number of citizen complaints received, including the number sustained. The 2013 LEMAS asked about the number of internally generated use of force incidents and reports. Due to the brevity of this topic on an omnibus survey, BJS is currently examining the validity of using the LEMAS as a tool to collect use of force prevalence. Pilot efforts are currently underway to launch a separate national program to collect law enforcement administrative data on use of force.
  • In 2007, nearly all local police and sheriff’s departments had written policies pertaining to use of lethal force (97%) and less-than-lethal (96%) force. [NCJ 231174; NCJ 238558]
  • In 2007, 8% of local police departments had a citizen complaint review board (CCRB) in their jurisdiction that examined use-of-force complaints, with 77% of agencies serving a population 1 million or more having a CCRB. Only 3% of sheriff’s departments had a CCRB in their jurisdiction, with 15% of agencies serving 1 million a population or more having a CCRB. [NCJ 231174; NCJ 238558]
  • In 2013, about 9 in 10 local police departments allowed their officers to use pepper spray (94%) and batons (87%). Additionally, a majority of local police departments authorized defensive physical tactics, including open-hand (91%), takedown (89%), and closed-hand (85%) techniques. Slightly less than 20% of local police departments allowed neck-restraint tactics. [NCJ 248767]

• Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ)
  Fielded by BJS in 1972, 1978, 1983, 1989, 1996, and 2002, SILJ provides information collected from a nationally representative sample of inmates in local jails on individual characteristics of jail inmates, including current offenses and detention status, characteristics of victims, criminal histories, family background, and gun possession and use. In 2002, inmates were asked about their experience with law enforcement at the time of their arrest and the types of force used (if any) against them.
  

• Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies (CLETA) 
  In 2002, 2006 and 2014, BJS conducted a survey of all known law enforcement training academies in the United States. Among other things, the survey included questions about the types of training law enforcement recruits receive on the use of force.
  • In 2006, 98% of law enforcement training academies included basic training on nonlethal weapons and firearms skills. On average, academies provided 60 hours of firearms and 12 hours of nonlethal weapons training.
  • Most (99%) of academies provided training on self-defense consisting of 51 hours of training on average.
  • A majority of academies provided training on cultural diversity (98%), community policing strategies (92%), and mediation skills/conflict management (88%). The average number of hours for training on these topics ranged from 8 to 11 hours. [NCJ 222987]

• FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR)
  The FBI’s SHR annually collect additional details for homicide events known to law enforcement reported to the FBI through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. In addition to incident-specific information on murder and non negligent homicides that come to the attention of the law enforcement, SHR collect data on justifiable homicides. In the UCR Program, a justifiable homicide is defined as the willful killing of a felon by 1) a peace officer in the line of duty, or 2) by a private citizen during the commission of a felony. The FBI publishes data on justifiable homicides by a law enforcement officer each year through the annual publication Crime in the United States (CIUS).
  • In 2013, there were 461 justifiable homicides of felons by law enforcement, with 458 (99%) occurring by firearm. [Expanded Homicide Data Table 14]

• FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA)
  The FBI’s LEOKA collection annually gathers information on the number of law enforcement officers killed, feloniously or accidentally, and the number of officers assaulted while performing their duties. Data is collected through the UCR Program for city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal agencies. The FBI publishes LEOKA data each year through CIUS.
  • In 2013, 27 law enforcement officers died from injuries incurred in the line of duty during felonious incidents, and 49 officers died as the result of accidents that occurred in the line of duty. [Officers Feloniously Killed Summary]
  • Law enforcement agencies reported that 49,851 officers were assaulted while performing their duties in 2013. The rate of officer assaults was 9.3 per 100 sworn officers. [Officers Assaulted Summary]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also collects national data pertaining to lethal and nonlethal injuries inflicted through legal intervention, which are defined as injuries inflicted by the law enforcement or other law-enforcing agents, including military on duty, in the course of arresting or attempting to arrest lawbreakers, suppressing disturbances, maintaining order, and other legal actions. Lethal incidents are captured through the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), Fatal Injury Reports, and nonlethal injuries are captured through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System - All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP). The CDC has been expanding its efforts to capture more information surrounding the circumstances of violent deaths through the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). While the NVDRS has received support from 32 states, the most recent data are from 17 of these states and not nationally representative. Data for all three databases can be accessed from the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS).

Data Experts

Alexia D. Cooper, Ph.D., Statistician, BJS (SHR, LEOKA)
Elizabeth Davis, Statistician, BJS (PPCS)
Shelley S. Hyland, Ph.D., Statistician, BJS (LEMAS, PPCS, CLETA)
Lynn Langton, Ph.D., Statistician, BJS (PPCS)
Todd D. Minton, Statistician, BJS (SILJ)
Michael Planty, Ph.D., Chief of Victimization Unit, BJS (ARD)

Data Collections & Surveys

• Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)
• FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports(SHR)
• Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA)

Publications & Products

Police Use of Nonfatal Force, 2002-11 Presents data on the threat or use of nonfatal force by police against white, black, and Hispanic residents during police contact.
	Press Release | Summary (PDF 202K) | PDF (751K) | ASCII file (38K) | Comma-delimited values (CSV) (Zip format 26K)
Assessment of Coverage in the Arrest-Related Deaths Program Provides an executive summary of the Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD) component of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) technical assessment report. Data from the ARD represent a national accounting of persons who have died during the process of arrest, including homicides by law enforcement personnel and deaths attributed to suicide, intoxication, accidental injury, and natural causes.
	PDF (501KB) | ASCII file (4KB) | Comma-delimited (CSV) (Zip format 4KB) Part of the Arrest-Related Deaths Series
Local Police Departments, 2013: Equipment and Technology Presents findings on local police departments by population served in 2013, including comparisons with previous survey years.
	Press Release (8KB) | Summary (PDF 243KB) | PDF (640KB) | ASCII file (25KB) | Comma-delimited format (.csv) (Zip format 38KB) Part of the Local Police Departments Series
Local Police Departments, 2013: Personnel, Policies, and Practices Presents findings on local police departments by population served in 2013, including comparisons with previous surveys dating back to 1987.
	Press Release | Executive Summary (PDF 85K) | PDF (751K) | ASCII file (36K) | Comma-delimited format (.csv) (Zip format 46K) Part of the Local Police Departments Series
Arrest-Related Deaths Program: Data Quality Profile Provides a data quality profile of the Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD) component of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP).
	PDF (609K) | ASCII file (65K) | Zip format (59K) Part of the Arrest-Related Deaths Series
Arrest-Related Deaths Program Assessment: Technical Report Provides a technical assessment of the coverage of the Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD) component of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP).
	PDF (1.4M) | ASCII file (114K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 37M) Part of the Arrest-Related Deaths Series
Requests for Police Assistance, 2011 Examines the characteristics and experiences of persons age 16 or older who contacted police to request assistance in 2011.
	Press Release | PDF (952K) | ASCII file (23K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 33K)
Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011 Examines the characteristics and experiences of persons age 16 or older who were stopped by police during traffic and street stops, and their perceptions of police behavior and response during these encounters.
	Press Release | PDF (1.8M) | ASCII file (52K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 64K)
Sheriffs' Offices, 2007 - Statistical Tables Presents data collected from a nationally representative sample of sheriffs' offices on a variety of agency characteristics.
	PDF (706K) | ASCII file (16K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 65K) Part of the Sheriffs' Office Series
Arrest-Related Deaths, 2003-2009 - Statistical Tables Provides data on the circumstances of deaths that occur during, or shortly after, state or local law enforcement officers engage in an arrest or restraint process.
	Press Release | PDF (1M) | ASCII file (23K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 44K) Part of the Arrest-Related Deaths Series

MORE PUBLICATIONS & PRODUCTS

Back to Top

Terms & Definitions

Related Links

• Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Annual Report

Additional Info

U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1999). Use of Force by Police: Overview of National and Local Data. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

McEwen, T. (1996). National Data Collection on Police Use of Force. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

International Association of Chiefs of Police & Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. (2012). Emerging Use of Force Issues: Balancing Public and Officer Safety.

International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2001). Police Use of Force in America.

National Institute of Justice. (2012). Police Use of Force.

President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. (2015). Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

Related Topics

• Law Enforcement
• Victims
• Corrections
• Crime Type