Fatal outcomes of militarization: Re-examining the relationship between the 1033 Program and police deadly force

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Prior literature has examined police militarization by operationalizing the materiel dimension using the 1033 Program – a U.S. military surplus transfer program – and assessing its relationship with police fatal force. Given mixed findings, the present study demonstrates the importance of data considerations while examining this relationship and any assessment of militarization or fatal force. Methods The present study uses the 1033 Program data and the crowdsourced Fatal Encounters database to conduct multi-level mixed effects negative binomial regression models using both raw and cleaned data. Results While the cost of 1033 Program items was negatively associated with fatal force in the raw models, this relationship disappears using the cleaned data. The cleaned data models demonstrate a moderate, positive relationship between the number of 1033 Program items obtained and fatal force, though this relationship disappears when agencies are disaggregated by size. Conclusion These findings demonstrate the importance of data selection, validation, and categorization, given that previous literature examining this relationship vary in their extent of data cleaning and the data sources used. These findings also demonstrate the necessity for militarization research to examine police outcomes beyond fatal force, and to account for additional measures of militarization beyond the 1033 Program.