Improve Police-community Relations Research Articles

Women police, legitimacy, and ethics of care

Abstract Calls for more women in policing are often associated with pleas to reform the police, operating under the assumption that women police differently than men and that increasing gender diversity in law enforcement agencies may be a catalyst for organizational change. These assertions are intertwined with attitudes related to how women exercise social control and beliefs about how policing would change if the virtues associated with a feminist ethics of care approach were elevated in the institution. Structural equation modelling was used with a sample of more than 16,000 community members from over 50 jurisdictions to explore research questions related to care ethics. The results show that attentiveness, responsiveness, compassion, and helping represent an underlying construct of care, which is strongly associated with community members’ satisfaction and their broader perceptions of the legitimacy of the police. The results also show that women officers demonstrate more care than men officers and that community members who are People of Color experience less care compared with White residents. Overall, the findings indicate that rethinking police responsibilities from a care perspective is a viable option for improving police–community relations and building legitimacy, particularly in marginalized communities.

Exploring the Guardian Mindset as a Strategy for Improving Police-Community Relations

Exploring the Guardian Mindset as a Strategy for Improving Police-Community Relations

The Relationship between the Framing of Speeding Messages and Changes in Attitude of Generation Z Respondents

Police communication with the public is a vital process, and it should be considered a key area of research in the digital era. Until the 2000s, police messages reached the community through traditional media channels. Nowadays, there is an opportunity for e-community policing: to identify problems in the online sphere, propose solutions and improve police-community relations through the appropriate use of social networking sites. This study is a pioneering one as no research has yet been carried out that analysed the visual effects of Hungarian police communication on social media. The observed sample was collected by systematic sampling and, using the perspective of emotions as frames, a questionnaire survey was conducted among Generation Z members to investigate the elicited emotions and their persuasive effects. The aim of this empirical research is to demonstrate that visuals created by the police may be of particular importance in crime prevention.

The urban-rural divide in police trust: insights from Kenya

ABSTRACT The police occupy a central role in the functioning of the state by being tasked with upholding security, law and order. Across the African continent, the public has little trust in the police, but such perceptions are subject to considerable subnational variation. In this study, we are interested in how the different contexts in which the police operate affect police-citizen relations. We ask: How does an urban versus rural environment shape citizens’ trust in the police? We address this question within the context of Kenya, using geocoded survey data from Afrobarometer. We theorise that the rural versus urban environment will shape citizens’ experience with the police in ways that affect their attitudes toward the police. Specifically, we argue that in a context where the police have frequently been employed to repress specific sociopolitical groups, urban residents, living in denser and more diverse environments compared to rural residents, are more prone to have first- or second-hand experiences of the police that result in diminished trust towards them. Our results support these propositions: We find a strong and robust relationship between urban residence and lower levels of trust in the police. The relationship holds when controlling for respondents’ political alignment, which likely conditions people’s perceptions of state institutions. Qualitative evidence from interviews provide additional understanding of the urban-rural divide we identify. Our results provide important insights into the contextual dynamics that shape individuals’ trust in the police, and underline the importance of efforts to improve police-community relations in urbanising contexts.

Examining the predictors of the public’s trust in the police using local data

ABSTRACT Assessing public attitudes toward the police is a mainstay of policing research because of the importance of police-community relations for the betterment of society. To have a better understanding of the antecedents of public trust in the police, we analyze data from residents of the Hampton Roads region of Southeast Virginia. Our findings indicate that older respondents, those who believe that the police treat racial and ethnic minorities equally as they do whites, and those who believe that the police protect people from crime expressed higher levels of trust in the police. Conversely, males, Blacks, and those who earned $50,000 or less expressed lower levels of trust in the police. To our surprise, we found that protection from crime appeared to matter more for community members than the police’s treatment of racial and ethnic minorities as far as trust in the police was concerned. This means that police effectiveness remains a crucial component of policing, even if the way the police treat minority community members is also very important for improving police-community relations. We point out the implications of our findings for police-community relations, public policy, and future research.

ENHANCING POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS VIA A CONFLICT RESOLUTION APPROACH

Despite calls for community-oriented policing and the recognition that it results in improved relationships between the police and community as well as improved public security outcomes, police-community relations are arguably at an all-time low. Part of the challenge in achieving enhanced police-community relations is a disparate understanding of what each party wants and what each party can provide as well as prioritizing these factors. We present a project that worked to improve police-community relations through a conflict resolution process using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The project was conducted with a group of police officers serving an urban, predominately African American community and representatives of the community over a period of several workshops. The workshops identified the goals, criteria, and objectives of each party as well as the perception of the other party’s goals, criteria, and objectives. The results of the meetings, the priorities generated, and similarities/divergences between them are presented.

Examining the nuance in adolescents' police encounters: Positive, negative, or both?

Youth-police encounters reflect a pivotal point for intervention to improve police-community relations. Data from 454 youths (M = 15.1 years) included brief written descriptions of positive and negative experiences with a police officer and perceptions of police using Likert-scale items. Participating youths described both positive (46%) and negative (60%) experiences with police. Besides decidedly positive experiences, youths also responded to the positive experiences prompt with ambiguous situations (46%) that involved the arrest of the youth or their family (procedural or distributive justice). Examples of ambiguous self-described positive experiences included, "Restraining order,""My dad went to prison,"and "When I was arrested in location redacted, the officer was kind and didn't put me in cuffs."Results from regressions indicated youths' perceptions of police were more often associated with the absence of positive experiences than specific positive or negative experiences. Study findings have implications for police trainings and future research on youth-police encounters.

“It Just Makes You Have More Problems”: An Examination of Anti-snitching Codes among Black Youths in Toronto

Subcultural codes against compliance with the police, or “snitching,” have factored prominently in public and law enforcement discourses related to urban violence and crime prevention. However, scholarship on these issues focuses almost entirely on the United States. This study investigates attitudes toward compliance with the police and perceptions of snitching among a sample of a Black youths who reside in socially and economically marginalized neighbourhoods in Toronto. Drawing on 32 in-depth interviews, I examine how perceptions of community safety and experiences with policing have impacted young people’s willingness to report crimes and comply with police investigations. Contrary to popular discourses, being seen speaking with police or providing information did not necessarily constitute snitching. Rather, consistent with prior research, a complex set of variables, including age, gender, and the perceived seriousness of the crime, all factored in determining what constituted snitching and when someone was considered a snitch. My findings challenge the essentializing nature of popular discourses on snitching while also highlighting how diminished perceptions of police legitimacy and efficacy have impacted young people’s willingness to report crimes and comply with police investigations. Finally, I discuss the implications of my findings for efforts to reform the police and improve police–community relations.

Halo effects and public evaluation of police service

ABSTRACT Public opinion of police service provides important guidelines for government leaders and policy practitioners who strive to improve police-community relations and restructure law enforcement agencies. Despite its widespread use, citizen evaluation of police service is bias-prone due to the subjective nature of people’s judgment heuristics. Considering that the impact of police actions on public opinion is not limited to those that police directly deal with, this study examines whether people’s general impression on the police plays a role in how they rate smaller traits of police. To this end, the present study revisits Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues’ Police Services Study conducted in Rochester, St. Louis, and Tampa-St. Petersburg. Findings show that citizens’ overall perception on police service creates a halo, which positively influences their subsequent appraisals of police courtesy, equal treatment, and honesty, respectively. This study ultimately underscores the nuanced understanding of police service information reported from citizen surveys.

How the interplay between organisational ‘culture’ and ‘climate’ shapes police officers’ perceptions of community policing

This article draws on interview data and the concepts of organisational ‘culture’ and ‘climate’ to critically assess police officers’ perceptions of community policing in one English constabulary. In so doing, it considers the cultural, organisational and wider contextual determinants of officers’ alignment to this style of police work. With an emphasis on developing community partnerships and engaging in problem-solving, rather than enforcement of the criminal law, community policing has been seen a primary way of rendering officers more ‘responsive’ to the needs of citizens, improving police–community relations and driving down crime rates. An important reform movement in police organisations around the world, the success of community policing nonetheless depends on officers’ willingness and ability to deliver it. Accordingly, the generation of evidence about the ‘drivers’ of officers’ attitudes to inform strategies to promote the delivery of the approach is essential. Findings suggest that officers value community policing as an organisational strategy but that the approach maintains a low status and is undervalued compared with other specialisms within the organisation. This is born of an organisational culture that foregrounds law enforcement as the primary function of police work and an organisational climate that reinforces it. This has implications for community officers in terms of their perceptions of and attitudes towards the approach, self-esteem and sense of value and worth, perceptions of organisational justice, discretionary effort and role commitment. Recommendations for police managers are set out.

Confirmation bias: A barrier to community policing

This is a very challenging time for police–community relations, one characterized by a mutual lack of trust between police and citizens. But trust is an important tenet of effective community policing. Trust between police and communities can result in better problem solving, fewer legal violations by citizens, less frequent use of force by the police, less resistance by citizens during arrests, greater willingness to share information, less inclination to riot, and greater willingness of community members and police to cooperate. One key obstacle to fostering trust between the community and police is confirmation bias—the tendency for people to take in information and process it in a way that confirms their current preconceptions, attitudes, and beliefs. Recognizing and addressing confirmation bias, therefore, plays a critical role in fostering more productive engagement. If we are to improve police–community relations and co-create a way forward, learning to approach debates with open minds, an awareness of the lens of our own perspectives, commitment to considering the opposite, and the goal of listening with curiosity are essential.

“It's a Constant Juggling Act”: Toward Coherent Priorities for U.S. Policing

Democratic police reforms have reduced the isolation of officers from the public, putting recent public demands for changes to U.S. policing into stark relief with existing practices of police agencies. This qualitative study examines role conflict related to negotiating external expectations for policing among 48 U.S. police officers. Findings suggest that role conflict related to incoherent policing priorities is a robust feature of officers’ experiences and results from operational processes that are poorly aligned with agency or officer priorities, and public expectations that are incompatible with officers’ work realities. Given the legitimacy crisis facing U.S. policing, policymakers and practitioners should develop strategies that directly address this incoherence by (1) assessing and reflecting public priorities in the generation of public safety, and (2) developing organizational resources and processes that strategically support valued activities. Doing so may strengthen the foundation for improving police-community relations as public priorities are incorporated into police practice.

“We are all in this together:” police use of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposePrevious studies consistently indicate that police agencies tend to use social media to assist in criminal investigations, to improve police-community relations and to broadcast both crime- and non-crime-related tips promotive of public safety. To date, little research has examined what content the police tended to post on their social media sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachBy selecting the 14 most widely attended police agencies' Facebook accounts, the current study collects and analyzes a sample of 2,477 police Facebook postings between February 1 and May 31, 2020. By using a mix-method approach, the study addresses three research questions: 1) What kinds of messages did the police tend to post on their Facebook pages before and during this pandemic? 2) What types of COVID-related police Facebook postings were made? 3) How did the public react to COVID-19-related police Facebook postings?FindingsThe findings suggest that the police have come to believe that social media can be used as an effective police−public communicative tool in stressful times. The findings also suggest that social media platforms have become a routinized tool of police−public communications which can, to some appreciable extent, substitute for the in-person contacts traditionally relied upon in community policing.Originality/valueThis study of police use of social media explores the question of whether the use of these media can serve as an effective tool to connect the police with the public under circumstances where in-person contacts are greatly constrained. Some public policy implications emerging from the findings reported are discussed, along with implications for further research along these lines.

Crime, quarantine, and the U.S. coronavirus pandemic.

Research SummaryPriorresearch has produced varied results regarding the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on crime rates, depending on the offenses and time periods under investigation. The current study of weekly offense rates in large U.S. cities is based on a longer time period, a greater number of offenses than prior research, and a varying number of cities for each offense (max = 28, min = 13, md = 20). We find that weekly property crime and drug offense rates, averaged across the cities, fell during the pandemic. An exception is motor vehicle theft, which trended upward after pandemic‐related population restrictions were instituted in March 2020. Robbery rates also declined immediately after the pandemic began. Average weekly homicide, aggravated assault, and gun assault rates did not exhibit statistically significant increases after March. Beginning in June 2020, however, significant increases in these offenses were detected, followed by declines in the late summer and fall. Fixed‐effects regression analyses disclose significant decreases in aggravated assault, robbery, and larceny rates associated with reduced residential mobility during the pandemic. These results support the routine activity hypothesis that the dispersion of activity away from households increases crime rates. The results for the other offenses are less supportive.Policy ImplicationsQuarantines and lockdowns, although necessary to reduce contagious illness, are not desirable crime‐control devices. An object lesson of the coronavirus pandemic is to redouble effective crime reduction strategies and improve police–community relations without confining people to their homes.

Reign of terror: A review of police brutality on Nigerian youth by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)

ABSTRACT Few days after Nigeria attained the sexagenarian status on October 1, 2020, the country has once again become a subject of unusual discourse both home and abroad. This is due to the protests by disgruntled youths against the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad; a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, which has been accused of brutality, human rights violation, sexual abuse, torture, and extrajudicial killings among others. This study adopts a qualitative approach which draws data from reports of reputable international organisations, juried scholarly articles, working papers, and newspaper articles. The study concludes that the police adopts brutality, abuse, and violations as its tactics due to its inadequate equipment for investigation which makes officers deploy torture as a means of extracting the truth. This is further complicated by an ingrained culture of corruption, inadequate funding, political interference, inadequate personnel, and a pro-elite orientation. As a result, it is recommended that a sincere and comprehensive reform of the police be carried out to improve the welfare of the police; encourage the use of extensive technology, and improve police-community relations.

Calling the police from the ‘ghetto’: legal consciousness amongst ethnic minority parents

ABSTRACT Ethnic minority communities in Nordic countries are increasingly subject to stereotypical and proactive policing practices. These developments have inspired new research on police-community relations. This article presents findings on police cooperativeness amongst ethnic minority parents residing in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in Denmark, based on qualitative data from a ten-month field study. Taking a ‘critical legal consciousness’ approach, the analysis describes how the parents conceptualize the need to call the police based on their combined evaluation of ‘problematic situations’, expected outcome of involving the police and alternative actions they might take instead of calling the police. Although experiences of negative police encounters were found to be a key factor causing parents to be hesitant to call the police, certain situational factors were found to overrule such experiences and inspired cooperativeness. These are particularly those which parents described as dangerous or as threatening to the wider community. The article discusses whether ethnic minority parents’ willingness to call the police reflects a larger process of internal social distancing between law-abiding residents and a minority of undesirable deviants. The findings have implications for improving police-community relations and provide nuanced insights into the social life of a marginalized community.

“After Philando, I Had to Take a Sick Day to Recover”: Psychological Distress, Trauma and Police Brutality in the Black Community

ABSTRACT Unfortunately, encounters between Black Americans and law enforcement frequently feature violence, resulting in a myriad of negative health influences including increased rates of race-based mortality, chronic stress and trauma. Despite police brutality’s increased media coverage, there is a dearth of empirical research surrounding violence at the hands of law enforcement and how it impacts the health of the Black community. Police departments across the country fail to release official data or information related to police brutality; however, technological advancements, such as social media and smart phones, have revolutionized information seeking and dissemination related to brutality. Drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT), this qualitative study used phenomenological interviews to better understand how Black Americans interpret stories of police brutality and the impact such stories have on one’s mental health. Analysis confirmed previous quantitative research, revealing the Black community can be traumatized by viewing graphic images or videos of police brutality. Interviewees reported a constant fear of dying, hyper alertness and lack of coping mechanisms. Findings from this study not only should be used to build health communication models that can address mental health issues, but also should be used as a blueprint to improve police-community relations. Implications are drawn from this study for addressing the issue of police violence in the Black community. Policy recommendations are suggested.

VOICES: a theory-driven intervention for improving relationships between police and the public

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe a theory-driven intervention called VOICES that was developed to improve police-community relations. The intervention was designed based on principles derived from social psychological theories of intergroup contact and communication.Design/methodology/approachThe authors discuss the theoretical basis for the intervention, as well as its development and implementation in the Santa Barbara Police Department. Based on this pilot testing, the authors provide preliminary evidence about its effectiveness using survey responses and qualitative feedback provided by participants.FindingsAlthough the case study method used here does not allow for causal inferences about the effectiveness of the intervention, the limited evidence the authors present does suggest that participants found VOICES useful and it may have improved their perceptions of police. The next step will be to test this intervention using experimental or quasi-experimental methods that allow for causal inferences about effectiveness.Originality/valueThe paper shows how police can develop theory-driven interventions in an effort to improve trust between police and the public, including communities in which relationships with police have been historically strained. It also underscores how insights from the study of intergroup contact and communication can benefit policing.

The short-term and long-term impacts of the procedural justice training

PurposeThis study examines the short- and long-term changes in officers' attitudes toward four elements of procedural justice (i.e. trustworthiness, respect, neutrality and voice) after a department-wide procedural justice training program.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized the pretest–posttest, single-group design to evaluate the training with two waves of officer surveys and conducted multivariate analyses to assess the factors that could have an impact on the training effects.FindingsThe training was effective in increasing officers' support for all four elements of procedural justice immediately, and the effects remained significant over 18 months. In addition, the analyses found that there were racial differences in officers' attitudes before and after the training, and the immediate supervisors' priority played an important role in the training effects.Originality/valueThere has been limited systematic research on police training. This study contributes to the understanding of how procedural justice training can help improve police-community relations and reduce the attitudinal differences between White officers and minority officers.

Is policing becoming a tainted profession? Media, public perceptions, and implications

SummaryStigmatized professions are those where physical, social, and/or moral taints are applied. Stigma theorists hold that stigma is socially communicated and changes over time, but it is unclear if stigma content can be applied to those who are seen as powerful. Two studies examined how the impact of sociopolitical discourses on policing, a profession that carries legitimate power, on the tainting of the profession and distrust in policing. In an examination of archival news media clips on policing (N = 200), results show that media coverage over time (between 2011 and 2016) has used a more negative tone in discussing police–citizen interactions, and these findings varied by conservative versus liberal media. Importantly, across media sources, taints were ascribed to policing. In a second survey study, individuals directly ascribed taints to policing (N = 169). Relative to other jobs, policing was categorized as a pervasively stigmatized job (i.e., high frequency and strong potency of taints were applied). It was also found that those who discussed media stories tended to distrust police more. Implications for efforts to recruit, select, and train officers and to improve police–community relations are discussed; findings may also generalize to other public and community facing professions.