Policy Preferences Related to Police Use of Deadly Force: Exploring the Impact of Social Media Consumption and College Major

Responses to high-profile uses of deadly force by police in the U.S. suggest a disconnect between police and the public in terms of the circumstances in which deadly force should be allowed. There have been limited efforts to examine how media consumption and individual characteristics influence policy preferences related to the use of deadly force. We fill this gap in the literature through application of survey methodology to a sample of 458 college students in the Southeastern U.S. Our findings reveal that a substantial proportion of respondents prefer highly restrictive policy, including that police should be required to first shoot a suspect in the leg even when deadly force is permitted under law. These perceptions are influenced, in part, by college major and social media consumption, net of the influence of personal characteristics and experiences, but the effects vary in direction and significance based on social media platform.