Protecting Life

Abstract The idea that police should prioritize protecting life seems obvious. Many use-of-force policies already endorse it. Too often, though, officers fall short of that principle. The problem goes deeper than a few bad apples. Law, policy, and training entrench practices that lead to avoidable killings, which hit marginalized groups the hardest. Importantly, how police use deadly force is intertwined with questions of distributive justice. That insight differentiates Protecting Life in its approach to the ethics of police deadly force. It develops a framework to evaluate police deadly force at the individual and institutional level, with close attention to concerns voiced by Black Lives Matter on how policing contributes to structural injustices in society. The book’s extensive engagement with social science research reveals ways to translate bedrock moral principles into policy. Ultimately, its conclusions push readers to rethink the state’s obligations to those most vulnerable to police violence—particularly, disadvantaged racial groups and persons with mental illness.