Over 40 years of research has shown that police violence is reduced through more restrictive use of force standards. A study tracking the effect of NYPD's adoption of a more restrictive use of force policy (including a ban of shooting at moving vehicles, and the requirement that officers use lesser-than-deadly force alternatives whenever possible) showed that not only did civilian killings and injuries drop significantly, but also that fewer police officers were killed or injured. Similar findings have been obtained in studies conducted in Omaha, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Memphis.

A 2016 study of close to 100 of the largest cities in the US identified 8 types of restrictions in police use of force policies associated with reductions in killings by police. While the city of Irvine has adopted only 3 of these (require warning before shooting, duty to intervene, use of force continuum), it has not yet adopted the 5 others. All 8 are essential in preventing undue use of police force. The five policies that Irvine police should adopt are:

- ban chokeholds and strangleholds

- require of de-escalation

- require exhaustion of all alternatives before shooting

- ban shooting at moving vehicles

- require comprehensive reporting after police use-of-force incidents