Police-community Relations Research Articles

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.

A systems framework depicting how complex neighborhood dynamics and contextual factors could impact the effectiveness of an alcohol outlet zoning policy.

An updated zoning policy eliminating all alcohol outlets (liquor stores) in residential districts was implemented to reduce high rates of violent crime in Baltimore City. Diverse stakeholders were engaged in group model building (GMB) activities to develop causal loop diagrams (CLDs) that elucidate the impact of the new zoning policy on crime, and more broadly, the potentially unintended social and environmental consequences of the policy. Three distinct groups, community advocates, city officials/academics, and community residents, participated in three separate GMB sessions. Three CLDs, one from each stakeholder group, were created to depict the possible outcomes of the zoning policy. Our findings offer insight into potential unintended consequences of removing liquor stores from residential areas that may undermine the policy. Community members described the need for additional supports related to mental health and substance use, opportunities for investment in the community, access to other goods and services, and community-police relations to ensure the policy achieved its intended goal of reducing violent crime. Our findings highlight the importance of timely engagement of local stakeholders to understand how complex neighborhood dynamics and contextual factors could impact the effectiveness of a zoning policy change.

R. Deuchar, V. Crichlow, and S. Fallik (2021). Police-Community Relations in Times of Crisis: Decay and Reform in the Post-Furguson Era

R. Deuchar, V. Crichlow, and S. Fallik (2021). Police-Community Relations in Times of Crisis: Decay and Reform in the Post-Furguson Era

“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.

A Study of Local Government in Africa through Participatory Action Research (PAR)

A Study of Local Government in Africa through Participatory Action Research (PAR)

Race differences in public satisfaction with and trust in the local police in the context of george floyd protests: an analysis of residents’ experiences and attitudes

ABSTRACT Measuring public opinions about the police is a mainstay of police–community relations because the police need to know how well they are doing in the communities they serve. To understand public attitudes toward the police in the aftermath of George’s Floyd’s killing, we analyze data from residents across seven cities located in Southeast Virginia. We find that, compared to whites and other racial groups, blacks were more likely to report both personal and vicarious experiences and were less trusting of and satisfied with police. In addition, blacks were less likely than whites and other racial groups to support the police’s handling of peaceful protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Other demographic differences are found and presented in light of prior research on public attitudes toward the police. The implications of our findings for improved police–community interactions, policy, and future research are discussed.

“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.

Police Fatal Force and Crime Reporting: A Test of Community Responses to Fatal Police-Civilian Encounters

Public perceptions of police legitimacy and effectiveness have been challenged by recent high-profile use of fatal force incidents by the police. Prior scholarship suggests that that controversial incidents involving police use of force can engender distrust of the police. Further, the neighborhood effects literature has demonstrated the importance of community context for police-community relationships and differential responses to controversial incidents by neighborhoods. The current study assesses how communities of varying racial compositions and levels of economic disadvantage respond to police fatal force incidents by assessing neighborhood crime reporting behaviors. Using monthly 911 call data from Los Angeles, CA neighborhoods, this study explores this relationship with a series of fixed effects negative binomial regression models that model police homicides and crime reporting over a seven-year time period. Comparisons between neighborhoods of varying racial/ethnic composition and structural conditions permit the comparison of differential responses across neighborhood context. The results indicate that neighborhood crime reporting decreases following fatal police use of force incidents. Further, these responses varied across neighborhood contexts. Predominately Hispanic neighborhoods experienced greater declines in crime reporting compared to predominately White neighborhoods. Neighborhoods characterized by high levels of concentrated disadvantaged also experienced greater reductions in crime reporting compared to their more advantaged counterparts. Utilization of the formal legal system can be challenged by controversial police incidents; however, these effects are dependent on neighborhood context. Future research should explore how spatial proximity and media portrayal of incidents influence community responses.

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.

Anti-Racism Strategies in Pediatric Psychology: Using STYLE Can Help Children Overcome Adverse Experiences With Police.

Black children are exposed to police violence at alarming rates. Such stress impacts development and treatment of physical health problems. In the current discourse, we introduce STYLE (Self-examination, Talk about community-police relations and racism, Yield space and time to anti-racism work, Learn about how structural racism impacts child health, Evaluate policies and practices through an anti-racism lens). STYLE offers a framework through which professionals in pediatric psychology can engage in anti-racist work across contexts from clinical care to academic and advocacy settings. Pediatric psychologists have a responsibility to be on the frontline as interventionists, educators, researchers, organizers, and advocates for racial justice through anti-racism practices. The current paper introduces STYLE in clinical care, community service, training/supervision, and academic and advocacy contexts. Case examples are provided. Professionals in pediatric psychology must first focus on changing their STYLE to promote individual and infrastructural change consistent with anti-racism work.

Contextual challenges in police-assisted substance use referral programs: Impact of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter movement

Background: Police assisted referral (PAR) programs provide people with substance use disorders (SUD) with a non-arrest treatment pathway, yet systemic barriers, including stigma and access to treatment services, may limit engagement. We sought to understand how the dual contextual challenges of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement have impacted PAR programs. Methods: Participants completed semi-structured interviews between July and September 2020. Transcribed interviews were analyzed qualitatively to extract emergent codes and themes. Results: Key themes included: adoption and reach of adapted remote services, and barriers to access; and questions on the role of police as health service providers, including police embeddedness in the community. COVID-related social distancing demands undermined police engagement with people with SUD. Treatment providers and advocates reported moderate success in utilizing remote interventions as workarounds. While participants acknowledged the Black Lives Matter movement’s criticism of police, many saw continued value in police involvement in substance use interventions, due to their accessibility in communities and capacity for rapid response. Conclusions: PAR programs quickly adapted to a largely remote format, increasing longer-term accessibility. While Black Lives Matter had little direct impact on PAR programs, concerns about police-community relations were acknowledged. Recommendations include further police training to enhance trust and reduce stigma, and wider integration of digitally-based substance use referral options.

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.

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.

Civil Security in the Wake of Crisis—Renegotiating Police-Community Relations in Post-Crisis Development in Swat, Pakistan

This paper explores the transition from military to civil security in post-militancy and subsequent militant operations in 2009 and the floods of 2010 in the Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Based mainly on qualitative interviews with local police and community women and men, the paper examines the shifting roles of the police over the course of these crises and how community-police relations are continuously negotiated. Before the conflict, relations between the community and police were weak, and traditional institutions such as the jirga were functioning. Militants attacked both systems, targeting police, politicians, jirga leaders and education institutions. Following the military operation, the responsibility for security became a confusing institutional landscape of civil and military actors, which has reshaped community-police relations in Swat. Dichotomous distinctions between state and non-state, formal and informal institutions fall short in describing the everyday dynamic crafting of local institutions, particularly in a post-conflict context like Swat. New ‘hybrid’ institutions have emerged, initiated by both government and communities, with varying degrees of success in building trust and addressing peoples’ fears that militants may return. The results are relevant for both post-conflict development assistance and police and justice reform not only in the study area, but also in other post-conflict areas where states and communities find themselves re-negotiating their basic relationships.

Civil Security in the Wake of Crisis—Renegotiating Police-Community Relations in Post-Crisis Development in Swat, Pakistan

This paper explores the transition from military to civil security in post-militancy and subsequent militant operations in 2009 and the floods of 2010 in the Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Based mainly on qualitative interviews with local police and community women and men, the paper examines the shifting roles of the police over the course of these crises and how community-police relations are continuously negotiated. Before the conflict, relations between the community and police were weak, and traditional institutions such as the jirga were functioning. Militants attacked both systems, targeting police, politicians, jirga leaders and education institutions. Following the military operation, the responsibility for security became a confusing institutional landscape of civil and military actors, which has reshaped community-police relations in Swat. Dichotomous distinctions between state and non-state, formal and informal institutions fall short in describing the everyday dynamic crafting of local institutions, particularly in a post-conflict context like Swat. New ‘hybrid’ institutions have emerged, initiated by both government and communities, with varying degrees of success in building trust and addressing peoples’ fears that militants may return. The results are relevant for both post-conflict development assistance and police and justice reform not only in the study area, but also in other post-conflict areas where states and communities find themselves re-negotiating their basic relationships.

Running an ostler? Exploring the use of stop and search tactics at Scottish football matches

ABSTRACT There has been a plethora of literature detailing the detrimental impact of police stop and search tactics (S&S) on police-community relationships and police legitimacy, as well as recent controversy surrounding football policing in Scotland. Yet, the recent controversies, and subsequent reform of S&S in Scotland has yet to trigger any meaningful discussion about the use of search tactics at football matches. The aim of this research was to explore the relationship between S&S at football matches and police-supporter relationships. This research utilized qualitative methodologies in the form of semi-structured interviews with police officers and football supporters. This study found, that S&S, in the context of football, did not affect police-supporter relationships in the same way as traditional S&S. This paper offers two reasons: the difference in S&S implementation, and a broader acceptance of ‘criminalizing’ practice among fans wherein specific practices are perceived as the cost of participation in football fandom.

Chinese reluctance to report crime: Political efficacy, group care and hukou

Rising crime rates and strained police–community relations in China are calling for more research on people’s crime-reporting desires and associated predictors. Drawing upon survey data collected from a sample of 757 local and nonlocal residents in a large city in Southern China, this study takes the initiative to assess Chinese people’s reluctance to report crime to the police. Results show that a lower level of political efficacy, external efficacy specifically, is associated with a higher level of reluctance to report crime. The effects of group care are mixed, with the inner-circle care exerting a negative and the outer-circle care a positive association with crime-reporting desires. Furthermore, net of all controls, local hukou residents express lower levels of willingness than their nonlocal counterparts to report crime. Finally, the perception of police misconduct is the most significant and strongest predictor of Chinese people’s reluctance to report crime. These findings suggest the importance of including a combination of both policing and non-policing factors when studying crime-reporting inclination, opening up an interdisciplinary perspective for studying the issue.

“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.

The Readiness, Resilience and Recovery Tool: An Emerging Approach to Enhance Readiness Amidst Disruption.

Disruptions of varying severity often occur in the course of an organization’s work to implement new programs or projects. These disruptions may slow their progress or even derail the work altogether. Resilient organizations must be prepared to respond in a thoughtful and timely way to disruptions. Readiness, Resilience and Recovery is an adaptable readiness assessment tool that organizations can use to proceed with their work with insight about their readiness status and how their readiness has been impacted by a disruption. The resulting information can then be used to guide the development of solutions for recovery and build the organization’s overall capacity for resilience. Based on our early experience, the Readiness, Resilience and Recovery approach is emerging as a tool that can be useful when organizations face significant disruptions. We have found it to be adaptable to different types of projects, at various points in the implementation cycle, and with multiple types of disruptions. To demonstrate its use, this illustrative paper provides five examples from different projects and settings: Substance Abuse Treatment Services, Multi-Site Sexual Assault Prevention Initiative, Serve and Connect (a Police-Community Relationships Initiative), Carolina Family Engagement Center (family engagement in schools), and Action for Equity (an equity intervention). Practical uses of the tool and conceptualizing it within important implementation science concepts are discussed.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43477-021-00011-6.

Community-level factors and incidence of gun violence in the United States, 2014–2017

Rationale and objectiveIn the United States, gun violence claims thousands of lives each year and is a pressing public health issue. To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, this study spatially analyzed county- and state-level predictors of yearly gun violence rates and gun-related casualty rates. MethodsThis study modeled hypothesized predictors of gun violence incidence and casualties across four years. Data sources included the Gun Violence Archive (gun violence data in the United States for 2014–2017), the U.S. Census Bureau (socioeconomic, demographic, geologic features), ICPSR (crime reports), the U.S. Geologic Survey (elevation data), and U.S. gun laws and ownership. Random forest analyses identified relevant additional interaction terms to include. ResultsThe extent to which counties are urban was the most robust predictor of both gun violence incident and casualty rates. Similarly, places characterized by greater income disparity were also more likely to experience higher gun violence rates, especially when high income was paired with high poverty. ConclusionsCommunity- and state-level features are markedly associated with gun violence. Gun violence is higher in counties with both high median incomes and higher levels of poverty; poverty did not seem related to gun violence rates in counties with relatively low median incomes. Some of these findings may well be due to racial segregation and concentrated disadvantage, due to institutional racism, police-community relations, and related factors.