Violent police behavior: Past, present, and future research directions Kim Michelle Lersch, Tom Mieczkowski * Department of Criminology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States Received 31 December 1997; received in revised form 20 September 2004; accepted 18 October 2004 Abstract This manuscript contains a review of the literature concerning violent police behavior. Areas of interest include the history of violent police misconduct, characteristics of the officers and citizens, situational circumstances, theoretical explanations, and an exploration of the various methods for controlling violent police behavior. Suggestions are made for improving our knowledge in the area of violent police behavior. D 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Police; Law enforcement; Violence Contents 1. Police violence: a brief history ................................... 553 1.1. Police violence: what is excessive force? .......................... 554 1.2. Research on police violence: what do we know? ...................... 555 1.3. Officer age and tenure .................................... 555 1.4. Gender of officers ...................................... 556 1.5. Race of officers ....................................... 556 1.6. Citizen characteristics .................................... 556 1359-1789/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2004.10.002 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 813 974 8281. E-mail address: mieczkow@cas.usf.edu (T. Mieczkowski). Aggression and Violent Behavior 10 (2005) 552– 568