Perceptions Of Police Research Articles

Public perceptions of police behavior during traffic stops: logistic regression and machine learning approaches compared

Prior research on citizen perceptions of police has taken a wide-angle lens approach to the topic, with only a few studies investigating public perceptions of particular types of citizen–police encounters. In the current study, we make use of archival data on police traffic stops drawn from four waves of the BJS police–public contact surveys (PPCS) conducted in 2005, 2008, 2011, and again in 2015. In addition to employing conventional logistic regression, we make use of random forest classification to analyze survey data from a machine learning perspective. We use conventional logistic regression as a tool of explanation and random forest classification as a tool of prediction. We compare the findings generated by these two distinct analytical approaches. Substantive findings are quite similar for the explanatory and forecasting approaches. Driver’s belief that a traffic stop is legitimate is a major factor in how he or she evaluates police behavior in traffic stops, and whether the police use or threaten force during traffic stops may be the second most important factor. We draw out the implications of our work for our understanding of traffic stop dynamics, for the theory of procedural justice, for the theory of negativity bias, and for the enhanced use of machine learning in criminal justice.

Racial and ethnic disparities in youth perceptions of police in the community and school: considering the effects of multilevel factors

PurposeRecent publicized incidents involving police and youth, particularly minorities, may undermine attitudes toward police. This research examines the effect of race/ethnicity on youth attitudes toward police in two contexts.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilizes survey data from 17,000 youth in California aggregated with data on poverty and crime. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is used to examine the effects of individual and structural factors on perceptions of the police in the community and in school.FindingsRace/ethnicity is related to perceptions of police in both contexts even after accounting for structural factors, with Blacks and Hispanics having less positive perceptions than Whites and Asians. Differences in perceptions between racial/ethnic groups were larger for police in the community than school police. Structural factors were associated with perceptions of police in the community but not at school.Originality/valueThis study differs from much of the previous literature examining race and attitudes toward police, which has largely focused on adults. The current study examines youth attitudes toward the police in two separate contexts and considers the influence of structural factors.

Dissocial Personality Traits and Past Experiences Matter in How People Perceive the Police.

The study investigated the contributions of dissocial traits and experience with the police to police perception. Participants (261: males = 115, females = 146, mean age = 25.87) completed psychometric measures deviant personality traits, police perception, and experience with the police. Regression analysis was used to examine relationship patterns. Results indicated that people detested the police as they got older (β = − 0.19, t = − 2.06, p = 0.04). Also, having an encounter was associated with more negative perception of the (β = − 0.16, t = − 1.97, p = 0.04). Among the dark triad traits, only narcissism predicted police perception such that higher narcissism traits was associated with higher negative perception of the police (β = − 0.46, t = − 2.21, p = 0.03). Findings seem to suggest that the police, especially in Nigeria, needs to do more to improve their connections with citizens; albeit, individual personality disposition matters, and should be a potential issue to consider when the police deals with citizens.

Moral motives, police legitimacy and acceptance of force

PurposeThis study extends legitimacy theory by examining individualizing and binding moral motives and perceptions of police.Design/methodology/approachData are drawn from an online survey of the public (N = 961). OLS regression is used to predict global perceptions of legitimacy, as well as department legitimacy and acceptance of force in an experimental vignette that manipulates procedural justice.FindingsThe binding moral motive is associated with greater global and department legitimacy and acceptance of force. The individualizing moral motive is associated with reduced global legitimacy and acceptance of force, and with department legitimacy when procedural justice is low. Perceptions of legitimacy mediate the effects of the binding moral motive on acceptance of force and of the individualizing moral motive when procedural justice is low.Research limitations/implicationsThis study identifies novel antecedents of police legitimacy and acceptance of force (i.e. binding and individualizing moral motives).Social implicationsThis study provides insight into public attitudes regarding use of force.Originality/valueThis study is the first to propose and test a link between binding and individualizing moral motives and perceptions of police.

Police as knowledge brokers and keepers of the peace: perceptions of community policing in Tuvalu

ABSTRACT Pacific Island Countries (PICs) face externally driven changes, including an international human rights agenda. Tuvalu was the first PIC to develop a National Action Plan on human rights, with a focus on improving the circumstances for women, children, and people with disabilities. Achieving these objectives requires a whole-of-government approach and a comprehensive process of community consultation. This study, undertaken at the request of the Tuvalu Police Service as part of a community consultation process, aimed to explore perceptions of policing. Interview participants (N = 79) included community members (n = 63) and police officers (n = 16). English translations of interview transcripts were systematically coded and analysed thematically. Alcohol misuse was identified as a central cause for concern associated with disharmony in families and communities. Community members recognised various resourcing constraints, but nevertheless expected a high standard of police service delivery. Reflecting a community policing ethos, both groups endorsed roles for police officers as knowledge brokers and keepers of the peace. Participants emphasised the need for police to work together with community leaders to find ways to bridge the gaps between the traditional and formal justice systems. Future research is needed to explore ways to better align the formal and traditional systems that contribute to progress on human rights.

General perceptions of police mediate relationships between police contact and anticipated police behavior in imagined roadside encounters

Previous experiences with police can influence civilian perceptions of police, and in turn their expectations for future encounters. According to theories on intergroup contact, positive contact predicts positive attitudes toward the outgroup and unpleasant contact predicts negative attitudes. In the case of police-civilian encounters, pleasant interactions with the police are associated with favorable police attitudes among civilians, whereas unpleasant encounters are associated with negative attitudes. In four studies (N = 826) we assessed contact among police and civilians as related to civilian general perceptions of police and (novel to this research area) anticipated officer behavior in an imagined roadside encounter. Across studies and contact type, general perceptions mediated relationships between contact and anticipated behavior. These studies provide preliminary evidence of a process by which contact shapes general perceptions, in turn impacting anticipated police behavior.

Police Legitimacy and the Norm to Cooperate: Using a Mixed Effects Location-Scale Model to Estimate the Strength of Social Norms at a Small Spatial Scale

ObjectivesTest whether cooperation with the police can be modelled as a place-based norm that varies in strength from one neighborhood to the next. Estimate whether perceived police legitimacy predicts an individual’s willingness to cooperate in weak-norm neighborhoods, but not in strong-norm neighborhoods where most people are either willing or unwilling to cooperate, irrespective of their perceptions of police legitimacy.MethodsA survey of 1057 individuals in 98 relatively high-crime English neighborhoods defined at a small spatial scale measured (a) willingness to cooperate using a hypothetical crime vignette and (b) legitimacy using indicators of normative alignment between police and citizen values. A mixed-effects, location-scale model estimated the cluster-level mean and cluster-level variance of willingness to cooperate as a neighborhood-level latent variable. A cross-level interaction tested whether legitimacy predicts individual-level willingness to cooperate only in neighborhoods where the norm is weak.ResultsWillingness to cooperate clustered strongly by neighborhood. There were neighborhoods with (1) high mean and low variance, (2) high mean and high variance, (3) (relatively) low mean and low variance, and (4) (relatively) low mean and high variance. Legitimacy was only a positive predictor of cooperation in neighborhoods that had a (relatively) low mean and high variance. There was little variance left to explain in neighborhoods where the norm was strong.ConclusionsFindings support a boundary condition of procedural justice theory: namely, that cooperation can be modelled as a place-based norm that varies in strength from neighborhood to neighborhood and that legitimacy only predicts an individual’s willingness to cooperate in neighborhoods where the norm is relatively weak.

Stop and Question Campus Policing

Purpose Stopping and questioning citizens is an important policing tactic. Prior research explores citizens’ perceptions of stop and question policing, or “SQP”, by municipal police, yet campus police also use this tactic. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether and why college students believe campus police should have the right to engage in SQP. Design/methodology/approach Data come from 73 in-depth interviews with students attending a university in metropolitan Atlanta, GA. The sample was obtained through convenience and purposive sampling methods. Data were analyzed using the ethnographic perspective. Findings Most participants said campus police should practice SQP for three reasons: it is their job; SQP is an effective crime fighting tactic; and SQP is useful given the features and functions of college campuses. Among participants who said campus police should not practice SQP, they were concerned that officers would use it in unwarranted situations. Practical implications Findings suggest that the police might be able to reduce resistance to SQP by clearly explaining to suspects why they are being stopped and also clarifying to the public the legal thresholds for stopping and questioning citizens. Originality/value This is the first study to consider perceptions of SQP by campus police. The findings also shed light on how campus and municipal police are (dis)similar in perceptions of their SQP practices.

How social dominance orientation shapes perceptions of police

PurposeThere remain several underaddressed issues in the procedural justice literature. The authors draw from a rich body of psychological research on how the sociopolitical orientation to group inequality influences individual views on government and apply this to perceptions of procedural justice.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a laboratory-style experimental design to examine the extent to which social dominance orientation (SDO) shapes how people view the language of law enforcement. Four treatments are tested: procedural justice, rapport, deference, and direct.FindingsThe authors find that, overall, exclusively emphasizing rapport – as opposed to procedural justice, deference, or directness – is not beneficial to fostering positive perceptions of police. Additionally, a higher SDO score is associated with lower perceptions of officer respect in the video and regardless of condition. Finally, while higher SDO score is correlated with greater trust in police (both a specific officer and the police in general), it is also associated with a lower sense of obligation to obey both the officer in the video and the police as an institution. Further, procedural justice or direct communication styles can attenuate the negative impact of SDO on views of police better than rapport or deference communication styles. Thus, the picture that emerges from this research is more nuanced than a straightforward relationship between SDO and support for police.Originality/valueThis study used an experimental design to examine for the first time the role that a sociopolitical orientation may play in procedural justice theory. While research finds strong links between procedural justice and increased cooperation with police, obligation to obey, and trust in police, few studies have delved into the individual-level factors that research has yet to delve into whether sociopolitical orientation may play a role in informing police actions and communication training.

How Do Police Officers Experience Interactions with People with Mental Illness?

Studies show that encounters between police officers and people with mental illness occur frequently and can prove to be challenging and, in some cases, dangerous for all parties involved. Little is known about how officers perceive interactions with persons with a mental health condition. This study addresses this research gap by examining frequencies, request for police dispatch, challenges, and subjective perceptions of such interactions. A total of 958 police officers from Hamburg (Germany) completed a questionnaire assessing the frequency of police dispatches involving persons with mental illness, including request for police dispatch and subjective challenges and perceptions associated with the interaction. Findings suggest that the majority of officers experienced interactions with persons with mental illness as conflictual due to behaviors they perceived as unpredictable and irrational including verbal and physical aggressions. The data also showed significant differences between female and male officers in regard to what they perceived as challenging. A total of 27.9% of officers felt anxious during the interactions. Less knowledge about mental health problems was associated with greater anxiety. The study revealed the German police officers’ subjective perception of police dispatches involving people with mental illness. The results underline the importance of fostering a partnership between the police and the mental health care system in day-to-day police routine practices and through education and training programs. Training should focus on improving the recognition of mental disorders and specific communication skills.

Assessing Police Violence and Bias Against Black U.S. Americans: Development and Validation of the Beliefs About Law Enforcement Scale

ABSTRACT Measurement of U.S. American community members’ perceptions of police historically has failed to assess police bias, violence, and accountability in Black communities. Rooted in critical race theory, conflict theory, and a substantial corpus of self-reported survey research methodology, the present study describes the development of the Beliefs About Law Enforcement (BALE) scale. Guided by a multidisciplinary and multiracial panel, whose members possess the requisite substantive and methodological expertise, BALE scale items were constructed and factor analytic techniques were performed using a purposive sample of 288 MSW, BSW, and undergraduate child and family study students. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the factor structure of the original 18-item BALE scale (Model 1). A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis yielded indexes indicating that the fit for the second order 15-item model was improved (Model 2) as compared to Model 1. The BALE scale achieved good internal consistency reliability (α=.87, composite reliability=.96). Limitations of the study are delineated and the utility of the BALE scale in developing and furthering knowledge in social work education and research is discussed.

Perceptions of Victim Advocates and Predictors of Service Referral Among Law Enforcement Personnel

Limited research exists on police officers’ service provision for sexual and domestic violence survivors after they formally report. This study used surveys from 452 commissioned officers at an urban police department in one of the five largest and most diverse U.S. cities to examine police perceptions of victim advocates, self-reported frequency of referral, and predictors of service referral among police. Findings revealed officers were relatively likely to provide referrals and held somewhat favorable attitudes of advocates. Knowledge of services and positive perceptions of advocates increased the frequency of service referral to victims. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

General and specific perceptions of procedural justice: Factors associated with perceptions of police and court responses to domestic and family violence

Improving criminal justice responses to domestic and family violence is a key focus within many policy and practice reforms. The efficacy of police and court responses to domestic and family violence is central because of the role of police as first responders and courts in issuing protection orders, imposing sanctions and ensuring perpetrator cooperation and accountability. To promote compliance and satisfaction with criminal justice outcomes, a large body of research points to the role of procedural justice. This study draws on survey and administrative data from an Australian jurisdiction to examine perceptions of procedural justice in specific domestic and family violence-related encounters. Findings and implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Procedural justice and legal compliance

Research SummaryIn 2017, we published an essay (Nagin & Telep, 2017) that challenged the widely held view that research had plausibly demonstrated that procedurally just treatment of citizens by police increased the citizen's willingness to comply with the law and thereby reduced crime rates. This article updates Nagin and Telep (2017) with new evidence that has appeared since its publication, while exploring in more depth our critiques of the existing procedural justice evidence base. Overall, we reach a similar conclusion concerning the impact of procedurally just treatment on crime but with the qualification that the rapid growth in the literature offers some encouraging evidence on the effectiveness of procedural justice training in affecting officer's attitudes and the effectiveness of community policing infused with elements of procedural justice in improving citizen perceptions of police. Research on body‐worn cameras also provides indirect support that respectful police–citizen interactions have salutary impacts. We also set out a revisionist perspective on procedural justice that emphasizes the social value of procedural justice in its own right but also makes more modest predictions about impacts on legal compliance.Policy ImplicationsOur critical assessment of the evidence on the crime prevention efficacy of procedurally just treatment, and even more fundamentally our skepticism about whether procedurally just treatment will reduce mala in se crimes against person and property, does not, however, mean that procedural justice should be relegated to a secondary status in policy discussion about effective policing. To the contrary, as we have argued and continue to argue, procedurally just treatment of citizens has social value independent of its impact on crime. Yet those benefits are still to be demonstrated. Police executives should, therefore, be cognizant that the effectiveness of this approach to policing should be closely monitored.

“Accidental Intimacies”: Reconsidering Bodily Encounters Between Police and Young People Who Use Drugs

Youth who use drugs (YWUD) are likely to encounter the police and experience victimization within those encounters. Negative experiences of police among youth can dramatically undermine youths’ trust in police, making them unlikely to ask for help when they need it. In this article, we use Rance and Fraser’s concept of “accidental intimacies” between staff and people who inject drugs arising in encounters within supervised consumption sites. Their exploration of Sarah Ahmed’s work on the social productivity of emotions argues that new subjectivities that counter or transform stigma and shame surrounding drug use can occur from the space between individuals. For Ahmed “emotions do things, and work to align individuals with collectives—[linking] bodily space with social space—through the very intensity of their attachments.” During 2017–2018, 38 youth (aged 16–30 years) who use drugs in three cities in British Columbia, Canada, were interviewed to explore their encounters (both positive and negative) with police and how these influenced their perceptions of police. In this article, we assert that the dynamic of “we” and “them,” of the YWUD and police, is constituted in part through the powerful emotions created and confirmed by negative bodily encounters where the bodies of youth and police collide through physical and/or verbal contact. The repetition of emotions and objectification through stigma within their communities force some youth to repeatedly confront harmful subjectivities. Rance and Fraser’s work provides possibilities for shifting these stigmatizing subjectivities. For change to occur, addressing the historical and present realities that impact YWUD will help facilitate and enhance more respectful communication and interactions between YWUD and police. Bodily encounters may also present opportunities for both YWUD and police to reflect on the subjectivities that reinforce and are shaped by their negative interactions with one another. Incremental change may be possible as we find new meanings in youths’ understanding of and compassion for police and their work.

When Police Smile: A Two Sample Test of the Effects of Facial Expressions on Perceptions of Police

Police officers exist at the center of much perceptual scrutiny. The present research contributes to the police perception literature by empirically evaluating the effects of facial expressions on perceptions of police officers. Using an experimental methodology, participants were exposed to images of police officers exhibiting either a neutral facial expression or a smile, and then asked to rate them on several important outcomes, including aggressiveness, approachability, friendliness, respectfulness, accountability (Study I; N = 92), and competency (Study II; N = 98). The analyses reveal that smiling unilaterally enhances perceptions of police officers: when exhibiting a smile, officers are perceived as less aggressive and more approachable, friendly, respectful, accountable, and competent. These results are strong and consistent across two samples of diverse participants from a public university and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed with respect to both perceptions of police and philosophies of police more broadly.

Community police academies: Assessing the effect of education on public perceptions of police

Citizens often have misconceptions about law enforcement. This misinformation may contribute to distrust and heightened concerns about force and misconduct. Agencies attempt to address this by promoting procedural justice and providing community education on police practices. Thus far, past research has not been clear on the actual utility of community education on changing public perceptions. Recent funding has allowed one department to host 14 one-day community police academies (CPAs) to educate residents about policing topics to enhance trust and improve public perceptions of the department. The current project analyzes data collected CPA events to determine the effects on citizen knowledge of police procedures and the effect of this knowledge on attitudes toward the police. Results indicate that while CPAs were effective at educating citizens about practices and improving trust in law enforcement, the increased knowledge was not associated with improvements to public trust. The knowledge obtained at the CPA was, however, predictive of lower concerns about use of force. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Transborder (in)securities: transborder commuters’ perceptions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection policing at the Mexico–U.S. border

ABSTRACT Transborder commuters are a heterogeneous population that includes U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and Mexican nationals who have the legal documentation to cross the Mexico–U.S. border regularly for a variety of reasons. However, in order to engage in transborder mobility, transborder commuters must navigate land ports of entry and undergo extensive scrutiny from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, who are afforded ample discretion to conduct their day-to-day policing operations. What factors explain the variation in transborder commuter's perceptions of border policing and border crossing experiences? How do negative border crossing experiences impact transborder commuters overall political engagement and feelings of exclusion from U.S. society? Drawing from an original face-to-face survey administered to pedestrian transborder commuters at the Tijuana-San Ysidro and the Ciudad Juarez-El Paso ports of entry, I find that individuals with the highest social status are more likely to report more negative perceptions of border policing practices. Second, individuals who hold the most negative views of their border-crossing experiences become incentivized to become politically engaged, but report feeling greater exclusion from U.S. society.

Creating and Undoing Legacies of Resilience: Black Women as Martyrs in the Black Community Under Oppressive Social Control

This paper contextualizes the struggles and contributions of Black motherhood and reproductive justice under police surveillance in Baltimore, Maryland. We conducted semi-structured interviews with mothers regarding their experiences and perceptions of policing in their community during the aftermath of the police-involved death of Freddie Gray. While the literature disproportionately focuses on Black males, little knowledge is known about the struggles and contributions of Black mothers in matters concerning police brutality and the fight against institutional violence. There still remains the question regarding the role of and impact on Black mothers during matters of institutional violence against Black children. We fill this gap by highlighting narratives and lived knowledges within a Black motherhood perspective. Primary themes show that Black women are subject to terror from police and system agents, they face reproductive justice issues, as they are criminalized as mothers—and are affected mentally, but they employ various resistance strategies that strengthen their resilience. Results indicate that Black women are the backbone and martyrs of their communities, but this comes at a tremendous cost because they remain largely unprotected and subject to immeasurable institutional violence and judgment against their mothering strategies.

Police spokespersons: A question of organizational representation

Police spokespersons exist at the core of organizational representation: they are selected to represent their agencies at all levels of engagement on all public platforms. Given their repeated exposure via traditional and electronic media, perceptions of spokesperson characteristics may impact perceptions of police and police organizations more broadly. Using online search queries of publicly available sources, we collected data for 612 spokespersons from 514 municipal police agencies across the United States. Our analyses reveal that spokespersons are overwhelmingly sworn, White men who are middle-aged and mid-rank. Our analyses also reveal some bivariate relationships between spokesperson characteristics (e.g., gender and employment status) and some variation among characteristics across states (e.g., Texas versus Ohio). By identifying and describing spokesperson characteristics at both national and state levels, we extend historical research regarding police spokespersons, contribute to the scholarly understanding of police representation practices, and theorize the relationships between spokespersons, organizations, and contemporary policing issues.