CodeBlu Use-of-Force Research
Data-driven research articles on use-of-force statistics, civil-settlement costs, and the training implications of public-record data.
A series of data-driven research articles analyzing publicly available US use-of-force data. Each article is intellectually honest about data limitations, cites every substantive claim, and connects findings to specific training implications.
These articles are educational. They are not legal advice. See the disclaimer at the end of every article.
What the Series Covers
The articles examine federal use-of-force datasets, the long-run trends in officer injury and death, civil-settlement costs of force, traffic stops and domestic violence response, and the rural-urban divide in training conditions. Most of them rely on public datasets and public records: the FBI's National Use-of-Force Data Collection, LEOKA, the Bureau of Justice Statistics' Police-Public Contact Survey, the Stanford Open Policing Project, the Washington Post fatal shooting database, and city-level civil-settlement disclosures.
Series-Wide Caveats
- The FBI National Use-of-Force collection is voluntary and covers roughly 78 percent of the sworn population as of 2025. Incident counts are not released until 80 percent coverage is met.
- These articles draw correlations from descriptive data; they do not assert causation beyond what cited studies support.
- No article claims a CodeBlu partnership or endorsement from any cited organization.
How to Read the Series
- Article 01 is the federal-data pillar; every other article connects back to it.
- Articles 02 and 07 are the highest-volume crisis-and-disturbance contexts.
- Articles 03 and 04 are the officer-safety and fiscal-cost anchors.
- Articles 05 and 08 connect to general training design: where the encounters happen and how the conditions differ.
All articles share a common closing structure: a "what this means for your agency's training" section that points to specific CodeBlu scenarios.
Articles in this series
Listed in the recommended reading order of the series.
Filter by topic
Showing 7 of 7 articles
- No. 1
Use of Force in 2025: What Federal Data Tells Us
An analysis of the FBI National Use-of-Force Data Collection, its coverage, its gaps, and what the visible patterns mean for training.
fbi-nusfuse-of-force-datanational-statisticsRead article - No. 2
The Mental Health Crisis Calls That Most Often Result in Force
Cross-referencing the mental health crisis literature with use-of-force data to find where escalation is most preventable.
mental-healthuse-of-force-datacrisis-interventionRead article - No. 3
Officer Injury and Death: What 30 Years of FBI LEOKA Data Reveals
A review of the LEOKA program: the long-run trends, the circumstances that most threaten officers, and the training implications.
leokaofficer-safetynational-statisticsRead article - No. 4
The Hidden Costs of Use of Force: Civil Settlements, 2020 to 2024
What public settlement data from major cities shows about the fiscal weight of use-of-force litigation, and how to think honestly about training ROI.
civil-settlementstraining-roiuse-of-force-dataRead article - No. 5
Traffic Stops: Statistical Patterns and De-Escalation Opportunities
What the data shows about where traffic stops escalate, and where the de-escalation training opportunities sit.
traffic-stopsde-escalationuse-of-force-dataRead article - No. 7
Domestic Violence Response: Where De-Escalation Matters Most
Where the real risk in DV calls sits, what the inherited myths still get wrong, and what training addresses both.
domestic-violenceofficer-safetyde-escalationRead article - No. 8
Rural vs. Urban Use of Force: Different Training Needs
Geography shapes the use-of-force encounter. What the rural-urban data shows, and what it implies for training design.
rural-policinguse-of-force-datatrainingRead article