The Police Use of Deadly Force: International Comparisons
| Author | Rick Parent |
| DOI | 10.1350/pojo.2006.79.3.230 |
| Date | 01 September 2006 |
| Published date | 01 September 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
RICK PARENT
Manager, Research and Academic Development at the Justice
Institute of British Columbia, Police Academy
THE POLICE USE OF DEADLY
FORCE: INTERNATIONAL
COMPARISONS
While the societies of the United States of America and
Canada are similar in many ways, recent research has noted
significant differences in the rates of extreme violence between
the two nations. Extreme violence includes the police use of
deadly force, the murder of police officers by an assailant, the
homicide rate of the general population and violent crime such
as firearm robberies. Despite the differences in crime rates,
trends in crime in the two countries are quite similar. The
findings of this study illustrate that the perceived threat and
calculated risk for police officers in the United States is
substantially higher then for police officers in Canada, and in
many other nations. This may explain why police officers in
the United States utilise deadly force in greater frequency than
in most western nations.
When police officers in western society use firearms against
individuals, it may be assumed that they are using lethal force.
Generally, officers who discharge a firearm or utilise other forms
of potentially deadly force are attempting to immediately inca-
pacitate a perceived lethal threat to themselves or another
individual. This decision-making process will usually transpire at
a time when the individual officer is under considerable stress
and in perceived danger, leaving him or her open to the influence
of a variety of physiological and psychological factors.
It is within this setting that roughly 300 individuals are shot
and killed by US law enforcement personnel each year (UCR,
2002). In the neighbouring nation of Canada, roughly 250
individuals have been shot and killed by police personnel during
the period from 1980 through to 2000, approximately 10 per year
(Parent, 2004).
In Australia, 41 deaths were attributed to gunshot wounds
inflicted by police personnel from 1 January 1990 through to 30
June 1997 (AIC, 1998). In New Zealand, there have been
approximately 20 fatal police shootings in the past 60 years. The
230 The Police Journal, Volume 79 (2006)
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