Citation

Asabor EN, Lett E, Mosely B, Boone CA, Sundaresan S, Wong TA, Majumder MS. Health Serv. Res. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1475-6773.14170

PMID

37276031

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine rates of killings perpetrated by off-duty police and news coverage of those killings, by victim race and gender, and to qualitatively evaluate the contexts in which those killings occur. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING: We used the Mapping Police Violence database to curate a dataset of killings perpetrated by off-duty police (2013-2021, N = 242). We obtained data from Media Cloud to assess news coverage of each off-duty police-perpetrated killing. STUDY DESIGN: Our study used a convergent mixed-methods design. We examined off-duty policy-perpetrated killings by victim race and gender, comparing absolute rates and rates relative to total police-perpetrated killings. We also conducted race-gender comparisons of the frequency of news media reporting of these killings, and whether reporting identified the perpetrator as an off-duty officer. We conducted thematic analysis of the narrative free-text field that accompanied quantitative data using grounded theory. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Black men were the most frequent victims killed by off-duty police (39.3%) followed by white men (25.2%), Hispanic men (11.2%), white women (9.1%), men of unknown race (9.1%), and Black women (4.1%). Black women had the highest rate of off-duty/total police-perpetrated killings relative to white men (rate = 12.82%, RR = 8.32, 95% CI: 4.43-15.63). There were threefold higher odds of news reporting of a police-perpetrated killing and the off-duty status of the officer for incidents with Black and Hispanic victims. Qualitative analysis revealed that off-duty officers intervened violently within their own social networks; their presence escalated situations; they intentionally obscured information about their lethal violence; they intervened while impaired; their victims were often in crisis; and their intervention posed harm and potential secondary traumatization to witnesses.

CONCLUSIONS: Police perpetrate lethal violence while off duty, compromising public health and safety. Additionally, off-duty police-perpetrated killings are reported differentially by the news media depending on the race of the victim.

Language: en

Keywords

intimate partner violence; intersectionality; racism; media studies; police violence