Female Victims of Police Justifiable Homicide

Abstract This paper provides an analysis of characteristics of Police Justifiable Homicide (PJH) events with female victims, including a comparison with a sample of male victims of PJH. Cases were identified using the FBI’s Supplemental Homicide Report, and include all-female justifiable homicide victims for a 7-year period (2007–2013), along with a random sample of male victim events in the same period. Additional qualitative information was assembled from newspaper articles related to these cases. In addition to basic demographic characteristics, the following are also examined: the incidence of injury or death of other people (including law enforcement officers) in these events, the type of weapon which was used by the PJH victim, the evidence of mental illness or suicidal behaviors in the victim, and the role of domestic violence in the justifiable homicide event.