The Conditional Impacts of Organizations and Supervisors on the Tension Between Officers and Citizens

ABSTRACT Under what organizational conditions are police officers more likely to use lethal force against racial minority suspects in the United States? Using identity and institutional theories, we find that perceived legitimacy is likely to determine how street‐level bureaucrats and managers define their identities and influence the disproportionate killings of minorities in the United States. In sum, we show that bureaucrats, either street‐level White police officers or their managers, assume different identities, either social or role identity, depending on the organizational contexts, visibility of their actions to the public, and the following perceived legitimacy to the public by utilizing institutional theory. These findings reveal when racial disparities are likely to rise, driven by the interplay among officer and suspect race, leadership dynamics, and the bureaucratic pursuit of legitimacy. We discuss theoretical and practical implications regarding police use of force in state‐citizen interactions.