Research shows variation in police officers’ views of the police role; some are mainly crime control oriented, while others hold a broader role extending to order maintenance and service. Though the origins and nature of role orientations are not well understood, training and socialization are presumed to play key roles. Some conjecture holds that officers subscribe to a “warrior” mindset, and training fosters this orientation. A shift to a “guardian” mentality, prizing community partnership, is prescribed. We analyze two waves of panel survey data from four classes of New York State Police recruits to examine the content and structure of recruits’ role orientations and the direction and degree of change during basic training. We find that recruits enter training as both warriors and guardians, these “mindsets” are not incompatible with one another, and that academy training amplifies and strengthens attitudinal coherence for both sets of outlooks.

Police vehicle pursuits emphasize a central tension between law enforcement imperatives and public safety. While modern policies emphasize balancing apprehension needs against risks of continuation, little is known about whether public intuitions mirror this framework. We address this gap using a nationally representative conjoint experiment ( N = 3,334) that varied eleven contextual factors across randomized pursuit scenarios. Respondents rated perceived risk, indicated whether pursuits should be terminated, and made forced-choice tradeoffs. Across all outcomes, high-risk situational factors (e.g., high speeds, adverse weather, heavy traffic, urban settings, etc.) increased perceived danger and termination support, while more serious underlying offenses, particularly violent felonies, reduced it. These patterns align with the proportional balancing logic embedded in contemporary policy and training. Findings suggest restrictive, risk-sensitive pursuit policies are broadly consistent with public expectations, though tolerance for risk in violent felony cases may limit support for outright prohibitions.

This study investigates career-ending police misconduct that occurs with little or no prior warning. Using administrative data from a large policing agency in the United Kingdom, we examine the predictive value of unsubstantiated complaints and related career characteristics for career ending misconduct. While unsubstantiated complaints were correlated with minor complaint types and overall complaint volume, they showed no clear relationship with career ending misconduct. Among officers with unsubstantiated complaints, however, significant predictors included duty type, frequency of transfers, and, most notably, the presence of secondary employment. A separate analysis of officers who committed “spontaneous” career ending misconduct—without any history of prior complaints—revealed no consistent demographic or career predictors. These findings challenge the utility of traditional early warning indicators among officers without complaint histories. We conclude that early intervention approaches must be refined to reflect multiple misconduct trajectories.

The consequences of poor mental health are far reaching for police officers, organizations, and the community. The occupational culture in place to collectively buffer the strains of the job can also serve as a barrier to seeking mental health help. The precise manner in which this operates is currently unknown. Utilizing survey data from a large urban police department, the current study examines the impact of several internal and external features of the cultural work environment on officers’ perceptions of mental health seeking help. Results from multivariate analyses illuminate the importance of top management support, expansive role orientations, and job satisfaction in seeking mental health assistance. Conversely, higher perceptions of danger and stress were negatively associated with willingness to seek help for mental health issues. A second analysis, based on grouping of open-ended survey responses, reports a number of occupational fears in coming forward with mental health concerns.

Objectives: This study assesses the effectiveness of hotspots policing in a novel context – moving hotspots. We examine the impact of preventative police presence on high-crime-harm bus routes, known as ‘Hot Bus Corridors’. Methods: A pretest-post-test parallel groups randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in London, UK, involving 556 ‘Hot Bus Corridors’ that were randomly assigned to receive either targeted visibility presence on buses or standard police presence, which served as the control group. Generalised linear models were used to estimate the treatment effect on crime levels, measured in terms of both crime counts and the Cambridge Crime Harm Index (CCHI). Results: We observed a significant reduction in both crime counts and crime harm in the treatment bus corridors compared to the control corridors, with a more pronounced reduction during morning hours. Conclusion: This study extends the applicability of hotspots policing to mobile environments, demonstrating its potential to enhance public safety. High-visibility police patrols in moving hotspots can increase deterrence and, consequently, effectively reduce crime within the public transportation network.

Persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are disproportionately affected by both violent crime and police misuse of force. Despite this, there is limited organizational knowledge around policing policies relating to this community. The current study employs data from the 2020 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey ( n = 2063) to examine whether organizational characteristics such as size, number of specialized units, and the extent to which the organization solicits community input on policing issues are associated with odds of possessing a formal written policy relating to persons with IDD. Findings suggest that factors relating to community policing and the formulation of policies for other specialized subpopulations were associated with odds of organizations maintaining such policies. There is a need to develop more nuanced policies which reflect the diversity of this community while also ensuring that stakeholders from the disability community are involved as co-producers of policies.

This study examines the cultural orientations of mid-level police supervisors based on how they prioritized different aspects of the police role, including law enforcement, order maintenance, community policing, and procedural justice. Using a sample of 437 U.S. mid-level supervisors attending the FBI National Academy, a cultural taxonomy approach used by police culture research to study line officers and police chiefs was applied. Cluster analysis identified five distinct groups: New Traditionalists, Peacekeepers, Law & Order Professionals, Procedural Justice Oriented, and Lay-Lows. Supervisors’ emotional intelligence (EI) was a key predictor of supervisor types, with higher EI associated with more balanced, positive orientations. The findings are compared to prior police culture taxonomy studies. This research contributes to the understanding of how police culture varies across rank and highlights the potential benefits of incorporating EI into research on police supervisors.

Little is known about the decision-making processes used when police encounter suspects who have never previously been stopped or about how police decide who to question in the first place. Literature suggests suspect race plays a role, but findings are contradictory, perhaps due to the confounding effects of prior records. We therefore focus here on a suspect’s first police stop. Drawing on three theoretical accounts—focal concerns, benign neglect, and de-policing—we identify plausible explanations for racial differences in self-reported police contact and arrest outcomes. We use Add Health data and matched logistic regression to examine race effects. We find that black respondents were less likely than white respondents to be stopped, but there was no disparity in arrest. Although suspect race was associated with the decision to stop a suspect, the association’s direction did not align with that of the traditional focal concerns perspective.

Police officers and citizens come into contact either when a citizen requests police service or when an officer proactively stops a citizen. One of the most consequential outcomes of these encounters is the decision to arrest. However, little research has examined whether the likelihood of arrest differs by type of citizen contact or across officers. Using mixed-effects regression models that nest 850,000+ police-citizen contacts within 813 Phoenix Police Officers, we examine whether proactive (i.e., officer-initiated) or reactive (i.e., citizen-generated) events are more likely to produce an arrest. Separate models and equivalence tests identify predictors of arrest for each encounter type. Results indicate that officer-initiated events were significantly more likely to result in arrest than citizen-generated calls. Officer-level factors were also stronger predictors of arrest during proactive contacts. As such, future research focused on police proactivity must move beyond event and citizen characteristics to consider the influence of officers themselves.