Introduction : the context of police use of force -- 1. Police use of force : the history of research -- 2. The crucial element : finding research sites -- 3. Findings from Miami-Dade police department study -- 4. The sequential steps in use-of-force incidents in the Miami-Dade police department -- 5. Miami-Dade police department : inconsistencies between officer and suspect accounts of the use of force -- 6. Findings from Prince George's county police department -- 7. Findings and summary -- 8. Explaining police use of force : the breakdown of an authority maintenance ritual -- App. Frequencies of force sequences for first through tenth actions.