Selected Work

The Causal Effect of Partisanship and Leadership on Police Lethal Force: Evidence from Sheriff Elections in the United States

 What explains stark differentials in civilian fatality rates across police departments in the United States? We leverage quasi-random variation of close sheriff elections in a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) to estimate the causal effect of partisanship and leadership on policing culture and usage of lethal force. We find that Republican led sheriff departments have on average 1.72 more casualties per elected term (four years) relative to their Demo- cratic counterparts, with effects being amplified and more precise in rural counties and under circumstances where officers perceive a threat to their lives. We also find that Republican led sheriff departments utilize significantly fewer cameras on officers and squad cars during policing activities. Our collective evidence suggests that Republican sheriffs favor less video evidence in order to provide greater latitude for deputies to more readily default to lethal force in dangerous encounters.