The introduction of tasers and police use of firearms: evidence from the Chicago Police Department
Many police jurisdictions have recently expanded their Taser arsenals with a goal of reducing officer-involved shootings. We analyze substitution between Tasers and firearms by means of an event study made possible by a policy change at the Chicago Police Department. Before March 2010, only sergeants and field training officers had access to Tasers; after that date, they were made available to patrol officers. We find that the change in Taser policy led to a large increase in Taser use, but not to a decrease in the use of firearms.
1 May 2019
AEA Papers and Proceedings 109, pp.157-60, 2019
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20191029
This Journal article is published under the centre's Community Wellbeing programme.