The Washington Post: ‘Demilitarizing’ the police could be a more fruitful rallying cry

Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) that use military equipment kill members of the public at significantly higher rates than agencies that don’t, according to a 2017 University of Cincinnati co-led research study now being highly cited in the wake of the George Floyd protests. The study, cited in The Washington Post and dozens of other news outlets, is co-authored by Jack Mewhirter, a UC assistant professor of political science. The study states that LEAs with increased military tools have higher rates of police-involved killings.  

The study, Mewhirter says, was the first attempt to analyze whether and to what extent military transfers have increased the propensity by which LEAs cause “undue or unnecessary harm” and rules out that this link between militarization and violence is driven by increased crime.

“You often use the tool that you have regardless of whether it’s useful or correct,” Mewhirter says, citing that the study has been replicated by academics, and so far, “the finding has held every time.”

Mewhirter's research expertise is in the subfield of public policy: a field of study which examines the emergence of societal problems and inefficiencies, the policy tools available to correct them, the organizations charged with the implementation of policies, the factors that impact organizational effectiveness, and the evaluation of implemented policies.

 Read more about the study and media coverage.

Featured image at top: A police force responds to enforce curfew. Photo/Donovan Valdivia/Unsplash