Police, Killing of

The Culture of Violence

It is a common belief in the United States (as well as in other nations) that America is an extremely violent society. As noted earlier, it is the duty of police officers to respond to much of this violence. Researchers have therefore argued that doing so places law enforcement officers at great risk, thus increasing their likelihood of being murdered. In essence, the occupation of policing is considered to be dangerous only because America is a dangerous place, particularly in large cities. The research regarding this theory has revolved around the characteristics of offenders who are deemed more likely to be violent, resulting in a focus on young, minority males who are presumably more entrenched in this culture of violence. In addition, the violent crime and homicide rates are often examined as measures of this culture.

In a series of studies conducted by several different authors, minority status (defined at various times as the percentage of the population that is African American or Hispanic, or as the percentage that is nonwhite) and age (typically defined as the percentage of the population aged between fifteen and thirty-four) have been found to be significantly related to the homicide of police officers. It should be noted that between 1980 and 1990, the perpetrators of police homicides were more likely to be young (53.8 percent) and minority (45.1 percent) when considered in relation to their percentages within the overall population. However, these relationships, while statistically significant, are not very strong. Gender, on the other hand, has been identified as a strongly significant predictor of police homicides, with 96.1 percent of perpetrators being male. Research focusing on the violent crime and homicide rates, in contrast, has found that neither of these phenomena is related to the homicide of police officers. However, it is noted that the individual's criminal history does have an effect, with 72 percent of suspects having a prior criminal arrest, with 38 percent having a prior arrest for a violent crime. Yet it has been noted that, in both Canada and the United States, while the homicide of police officers declined between 1980 and 1990, the violent crime and homicide rates actually increased.

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