Negative publicity, citizen cooperation, and officers’ perceptions of danger in the occupational environment

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ABSTRACT Policing as a dangerous occupation has been well documented. While prior inquiries have focused on the dangers resulting from injurious accidents or citizen-based violence, additional aspects of the external work environment have the potential to invoke concern among police. Utilizing survey data from a large municipal police department in the Southern region of the United States, the current study examines previously excluded sources of danger among police with street-level assignments – negative publicity and citizen cooperation. Our multivariate results reveal positive associations between negative publicity and perceptions of external danger, while a negative relationship was found for citizen cooperation. The implications for police practice and research are discussed.