Policing, Lethal Force, and the Struggle for Equal Treatment: The Doug Purvis Memorial Lecture

This address, the Doug Purvis Memorial Lecture presented at the 56th Annual Meetings of the Canadian Economics Association in June 2022, discusses the evolution of the use of lethal force over the past century and the waves of protest in response to this violence. It focuses on underlying causal factors behind rapid increases in civilian deaths in the 1960s–1970s and post-2008. In the earlier period, major causal factors include collective bargaining, militarization, and likely the increasing federal role in law enforcement, whereas increasing diversity helps to mitigate these factors. For the spike in police violence post-2008, potential causes include militarization, increasing civilian engagement, and polarization, and a broad range of mitigating policies are considered. With respect to the role of protest, the uprisings against police violence in the 1960s and 1970s result in large community costs, decreasing political support for police reform, and increasing levels of police violence against civilians. In contrast, modern Black Lives Matter protests maintain strong public support and drive meaningful declines in the use of lethal force. The address concludes with a discussion of policy options and recommendations for governments, police departments, and protestors to reduce the use of lethal force for the United States and Canada.