Researchers Argue Agencies Can Reduce Shootings by Requiring Officers to File Reports Every Time They Draw Their Guns

Two researchers writing in the Washington Post this week argued that the best way to reduce the number of officer-involved shootings in the United States is to require officers to file reports every time they draw their firearms.

Jay T. Jennings, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas, and Meghan E. Rubado, an assistant professor of public administration and city management at Cleveland State University, say their research suggests that police agencies serious about reform might consider requiring police officers to file a report whenever they draw their firearms but do not fire. 

"Almost all departments require officers to report on every time a firearm is discharged – but as of 2013, only about 46 percent of agencies required officers to report and document every time they draw their firearms.

And that policy substantially reduces civilian deaths. Agencies that require officers to report every time they draw their weapons have significantly lower rates of fatal shootings by police, as we reveal in a Public Administration Review article on our research ," they wrote.