Richard J. Condon Commissioner Division Of Criminal Justice Services

Police Use of Deadly Force in New York State: A Report to Governor Mario M. Cuomo (1985) offers one of the earliest systematic examinations of how and why lethal force was deployed by law enforcement across the state during a period of intense public scrutiny. Commissioned at a time when debates over police accountability, training standards, and civil rights were gaining national prominence, the report evaluates legal frameworks, departmental policies, and patterns of police–citizen encounters to assess the necessity and proportionality of deadly force incidents. Drawing on case reviews, agency surveys, and statistical analyses, it seeks to identify structural weaknesses and propose reforms aimed at reducing unnecessary violence and strengthening public trust.

Viewed from today’s perspective, the report stands as an important precursor to contemporary discussions about policing and the appropriate limits of state power. In the decades since its publication, nationwide movements such as Black Lives Matter, advances in data transparency, increased availability of video evidence, and evolving constitutional standards have intensified scrutiny of deadly force practices. Modern debates continue to revolve around issues the 1985 report identified early on: the need for clear and consistent use‑of‑force policies, robust training in de‑escalation, improved data collection, and stronger mechanisms of accountability. As current policymakers and communities grapple with how to balance public safety, civil liberties, and equitable treatment, this historical report offers valuable insight into the longstanding nature of these challenges and the enduring need for thoughtful, evidence‑based reform.

If you'd like, I can also turn this into a full foreword, integrate it into a larger document, or tailor the tone for academic, policy, or public audiences.

NY. Division Of Criminal Justice Services. 1985. p.273.

By Arthur H. Garrison

This article uses five years of data, 2015–2019, from the Washington Post dataset on police use of deadly force and enhances the data with 21 situational and 8 police perceived threat measure variables to put in context the use of force and the disproportionate incidents involving Blacks compared to other races. Rather than comparing percentage race outcomes of police use of force to general population or behavior proxy measures the benchmark of situational contexts of police use of force is used to interpret race percentage distributions by race within the same context. Under this analysis, the top three situations that result in police deadly force involved 1) an assault or civilian call for help, 2) a call for domestic violence, and 3) a police officer being attacked. When viewing police shootings by situation and race percentage distribution, the data shows that police use of force is differentiated. Within the same situations Blacks were more likely to be shot and killed than Whites. Blacks were more likely to be shot by the police in a traffic stop, were more likely to shot by the police mistaking them as armed, were more likely to be shot if they are perceived to be suffering mental illness and were more likely to be shot if the police are responding to call for illegal drug activity than other races in the same situations and contexts that resulted in police use of deadly force.

Journal of Race and Policy 16(1) 2022