Predicting Officer Involvement in Lethal Force: The Relative Impacts of Educational Attainment and Line-of-Duty Victimization

Abstract

Police use of force continues to draw significant public and scholarly attention, particularly regarding how officer characteristics shape decision-making in high-stakes encounters. Higher education is frequently promoted as a key mechanism for enhancing professionalism, improving de-escalation, and reducing problematic behavior. This study examines whether educational attainment, specifically possessing a bachelor’s degree, predicts differential officer involvement in lethal force incidents while controlling for psychological and experiential variables, including line-of-duty victimization. Analyzing secondary data from 64 law enforcement officers across seven agencies in two southern U.S. states, binary logistic regression was conducted to evaluate the relative impact of higher education. The overall model was statistically significant (Chi^2(5)=23.166, p<.001), accounting for 46.7% of the variance in career lethal force involvement (Nagelkerke R^2=.467) and correctly classifying 84.4% of cases. An officer's history of prior line-of-duty victimization emerged as the primary statistically significant predictor (B=2.864, p=.002), increasing the odds of lethal force involvement by more than seventeen times (Exp(B)=17.525). Higher education demonstrated a substantial protective directional effect, associated with an 80.6% reduction in the odds of lethal force involvement (Exp(B)=0.194), though this relationship was slightly shy of statistical significance (p=.078). Control measures for military service, negative emotionality, and cognitive reflection also did not reach statistical significance. These findings highlight prior line-of-duty trauma as a critical driver of career lethal force encounters and suggest that while formal education remains a promising protective factor, post-incident trauma support and early intervention systems are vital operational needs.