Addressing the “elephant in the living room”

Abstract

PurposeTo present systematic social observation (SSO) data concerning the work routines and citizen interactions of suburban police officers, including a detailed breakdown of how these officers spent time on their shift and the nature in which they interacted with citizens.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents systematic social observation.FindingsIn some ways, suburban police officers behave much like other types of officers, especially the manner in which they spend time alone on shift. There appears to be some degree of variability in terms of the nature of police‐citizen encounters both within the observed group of suburban officers and between them and other types of police.Research limitations/implicationsResearchers interested in describing variations in police behavior across agencies should strive to include suburban agencies in their samples, so that it can be investigated whether or not, and to what degree, suburban community structures impact police behavior on the street.Originality/valueOf value to those involved with, or interested in, variations in police behavior across suburban communities.