Pathways to TASER discharge: Qualitative comparative analysis of police use of force

Abstract

We used a crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) to analyse of how key conditions interact within police use of force incidents to contribute to Conducted Energy Devices (CED), commonly known by the brand name TASER, being drawn and red-dotted (0), or drawn, red-dotted, and fired (1). Our sample is 22 incidents (11 red-dotted, 11 red-dotted and fired) between one officer and one person subjected to force recorded in the Use of Force Monitoring Forms for CED incidents from one of the 43 police forces in England and Wales. We identify the most parsimonious causal recipes for both outcomes using five causal conditions –i.e. Intoxication, Intelligence, Prior Knowledge, Weapon Possession, and Aggression. We found three different pathways to CED being red-dotted (0) and five distinct pathways to CED being red-dotted and fired (1). Our findings show that reported intelligence and prior knowledge play central roles in shaping causal recipes, and reported aggression by the member of the public is critical to CED firing decisions.