@article{ref1,
title="A mixed-methods assessment of off-duty police shootings in a media-curated database",
journal="Health services research",
year="2023",
author="Asabor, Emmanuella Ngozi and Lett, Elle and Mosely, Brein and Boone, Cheriko A. and Sundaresan, Saahil and Wong, Tian An and Majumder, Maimuna S.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
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. <br><br>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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0017-9124",
doi="10.1111/1475-6773.14170",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.14170"
}