Judicial Decisions on Electronic Control Devices and Police Escalation of Force

Jurisprudence regarding whether police use of electronic control devices (ECDs) constitutes excessive use of force varies substantially across US states and over time. In this letter, we investigate the extent to which year-to-year switches in US Courts of Appeals decisions lead to escalations in police use of force. Using a generalized difference-in-difference design, we show that switches in judicial restrictiveness regarding the legal use of ECDs are associated with an increase in the use of lethal force as measured by the number of civilians shot and killed by police officers.