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Comparison of Changes in Police and General Homicides: 1930-1998

NCJ Number
194572
Journal
Criminology Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 171-190
Author(s)
Robert J. Kaminski; Thomas B. Marvell
Date Published
February 2002
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This paper presents a new data series for the felonious killings of law enforcement officers.
Abstract
First, the authors present a data series for nationwide felonious killings of police officers that is new to criminology research. This series, which begins in 1794, was compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (1998). Second, they explore factors that affect police murders with a time-series analysis for 1930 to 1998. Third, they compare their impact with factors that affect total homicide rates. The analysis indicated the police killings had two extreme peaks, one in the 1920's and another in the 1970's. The authors used the post-1930 part of the series in a time-series regression to explore structural conditions that affected police killings in the short term. Economic conditions, prison populations, and World War II had considerably larger impacts on police killings than on homicide generally. Police killings were less affected by demographic changes and by the crack epidemic (mid-1980's to the early 1990's). Thus, this study provides only modest support for the hypothesis that police and general homicides respond similarly to structural conditions. The two homicide types have responded to changes in economic conditions and social controls, but the impacts were larger on police homicides, which might best be explained by their influences on opportunity structures. 3 figures, 2 tables, 60 references, and appended data description and sources

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