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Although the incidence of deadly force use has likely remained steady in the first five categories, Russell and Beigel emphasize that based on the increased attention being directed at the "stake-out and drugs" category, these rates are likely much higher today. What quickly emerges from these foregoing trends, though, is just how quickly even innocuous encounters such as stops for traffic offenses with ordinary citizens can escalate to the point where deadly force is required by police officers. It is reasonable to suggest that when citizens are directly involved in a violent encounter with a criminal, their views of deadly force will be vastly different from those citizens who merely read about the event in their newspapers or watch a brief account on television. People whose lives or whose families' lives are personally touched and saved by the intervention of police and their use of deadly force against criminals...
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