The impact of police shootings on gun violence and civilian cooperation

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of police-involved shootings on gun violence and civilian cooperation with police, as proxied by crime reports made via 911 calls. To distinguish between crime reporting and crime incidence, we use administrative data on 911 calls and ShotSpotter data from Minneapolis. Exploiting the variation in the timing and the distance to these incidents, we show that exposure to a police shooting increases gun-related crimes by 5–6 percent, and decreases shots reported by 1–2 percent. Taken together, this implies police shootings reduce civilian crime reports to police by 6–7 percent.