L’usage de la force en contexte de crise : les interventions policières varient-elles selon le type de menace rencontré?

This thesis argues that police intervention in a crisis context focuses specifically on the use of force by specialized intervention teams. The interest in this study pinpoints mainly the lack of empirical data on the subject. Therefore, the main objective is to understand how to explain the use of force by specialized intervention teams and to verify if these factors vary according to the type of threat police encounter in a particular situation. We studied 438 suicidal crises, barricade and hostage-taking situations that occurred in Quebec from 1990 to 2011, supervised by the Sûreté du Québec’s tactical intervention group (GTI). To begin with, for a better understanding of this issue, we will compare individuals according to the level of risk each one represents, i.e. those presenting a threat only to themselves, those presenting a danger to others and those who pose a threat to themselves and others. Secondly, despite the fact that almost 90 % of critical incidents end in a non-violent conclusion, it is interesting to understand the risk factors involved that explain the use of force by the police and to realize that these factors vary according to the level of risk exhibited by the individual in crisis.   Descriptive analyses were used to demonstrate that the situation where the individual in crisis was a threat only to himself differed from other instances based on different variables. Overall, the general level of risk for this type of intervention is less significant since the danger appears to be directed specifically to the individual in crisis, taking into consideration that negotiation has been successful, also, considering the subject has limited or no access to firearms, and considering weapons are not frequently used. Bivariate analysis relating the different characteristics of the individual, the situation and negotiation with the use of force by the police, suggest that certain variables can have different effects depending on the type of threat facing authorities. For example, a history of psychiatric issues would increase the risk of police intervention among those who pose a non-aggressive threat to himself, but would decrease the probability of police intervention for those individuals who present a double threat, i.e. to themselves and others. Consequently, bivariate analyses suggest that certain variables, such as the possession of a weapon by an individual, the degree of intoxication, the presence of known psychiatric issues, the duration of the first contact with the police and the quality of the negotiation, could influence the use of force by police officers. Logistic regression analyses indicate that few of these variables resist multivariate analyses. These findings suggest that police intervene more so when there is no contact established with the individual, and this, regardless of the type of threat manifested.  On the contrary, a non-satisfactory negotiation would encourage police to use force in cases where the individual presents no threat to himself. In sum, these multivariate analyses show that the police are less influenced by the type of threat, rather preferring negotiation as long as possible.

Keyphrases: intervention policière, critical incident, use of force, police intervention, threat, risk factor