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The Introduction of Tasers and Police Use of Force: Evidence from the Chicago Police Department

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  • Bocar Ba
  • Jeffrey Grogger

Abstract

In March 2010, the Chicago Police Department changed its Taser policy, issuing the weapons to patrol officers instead of largely restricting their use to sergeants. We used that policy change to obtain difference-in-difference estimates of how the availability of Tasers affected the types of force employed by police, the total number of use-of-force incidents, injury rates per incident, the total number of injuries, and the race distribution of civilians involved in use-of-force incidents. The policy change initially led to a large increase in the use of Tasers, with limited substitution from other types of force. After a period of re-training, substitution between Tasers and other types of force, both greater and lesser, increased. Police injuries fell, but neither injury rates nor the number of injuries to civilians were affected. There is no evidence that Tasers led to a reduction in police use of firearms.

Suggested Citation

  • Bocar Ba & Jeffrey Grogger, 2018. "The Introduction of Tasers and Police Use of Force: Evidence from the Chicago Police Department," NBER Working Papers 24202, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24202
    Note: LE LS PE
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    Cited by:

    1. Marilyn D Thomas & Alexis N Reeves & Nicholas P Jewell & Eli K Michaels & Amani M Allen, 2021. "US law enforcement policy predictors of race-specific police fatalities during 2015–16," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-17, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K4 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior

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