Police Behavior Research Articles

The Significance of Instrumental Pathways to Legitimacy and Public Support for Policing in South Korea: Is the Role of Procedural Fairness Too Small?

This study tests whether Tyler’s process-based model can be generalized to South Korea. It examines whether procedural fairness has a greater effect on the public’s perception of police legitimacy, compared to instrumental judgements about police behaviour. It also investigates the direct and indirect effects of procedural and instrumental judgements on the public’s compliance with the law and cooperation with the police. Using data drawn from a national survey of 1018 South Korean adults, our results find that procedural fairness, police effectiveness of maintaining law and order, and deterrence are significant factors contributing to police legitimacy, and that police effectiveness has the greatest impact when using a full model. Legitimacy fully mediates the link between procedural fairness and acts of compliance and cooperation, and it partially mediates the link between police effectiveness and the public’s cooperation with police, as well as the link between deterrence and compliance and cooperation. We found that procedural fairness has less influence on legitimacy than police effectiveness and deterrence, and does not play a significant role in directly explaining citizens’ compliance with the law and cooperation with police. We discuss why citizens comply with the law and cooperate with the police in around the globe and specifically in South Korea, providing evidence for a mix of normative and instrumental factors. Our findings differ from previous findings that emphasize either of those two factors.

On Categories and the Countability of Things Bureaucratic: Turning From Wilson (Back) to Interpretation

AbstractThe formulation and application of categories was the handiwork of frontier scholars of public management and remains the essential task of scholars of bureaucracy and regulation. These scholars, exemplified by James Q. Wilson, pioneered the development of categories in three domains: (1) the inductive assignment of observed objects to conceptual groups (a form of Weberian categorization), (2) the deductive assignment of incentives and styles to conceptual groups (type-dependent theorization), and (3) the empirical assignment of observed objects to applied analytic categories (behavioralist measurement). I find in Varieties of Police Behavior (1968) the origins of his enduring categories in Bureaucracy (1988). His classification of agency personnel into executives, managers, and operators remains perhaps his crowning achievement in administrative research. Yet Wilson examined these categories with greater care than is often demonstrated by his successors, as he was careful to condition his comparisons across and within categories. The extension of truly “Wilsonian” principles of analysis to bureaucratic organization requires not simply the development of conceptual structures and the careful consideration of bureaucratic incentives, but also a reappreciation of administrative routines, practices, concepts, and technologies. It may compel the admission that some quantitative and qualitative comparisons are literally, even mathematically, nonsensical.

How Do NYPD Officers Respond to Terror Threats?

Using data from the Stop‐and‐Frisk programme of the New York Police Department (NYPD), we evaluate the impact of a specific terrorist attack threat from Al Qaeda on policing behaviour in New York City. We find that after the Department of Homeland Security raised the alert level in response to this threat, people categorized as ‘Other’ by the NYPD, including Arabs, were significantly more likely to be frisked and have force used against them, yet were not more likely to be arrested. These individuals were in turn less likely to be frisked or have force used against them immediately after the alert level returned to its baseline level. Further, evidence suggests that these impacts were larger in magnitude in police precincts that have higher concentrations of mosques. Our results are consistent with profiling by police officers leading to low‐productivity stops, but we cannot rule out that it constitutes efficient policing given important differences between deterrence of terrorism versus other crimes.

Examining the Effects of Neighborhood Contextual Factors on Officer-Involved Shootings

This paper contributes to research on neighborhood effects and knowledge about the conditions associated with community-level patterns of police behavior by examining whether levels of violence, racial and ethnic composition, and socioeconomic disadvantage are associated with officer-involved shootings in Houston, TX. In addition, drawing from the ecological theory of policing, this study explores whether spatial heterogeneity exists in the observed relationships. Poisson regression models reveal that community violence and neighborhood racial and ethnic context are meaningful indicators of on-duty officer-involved shootings. Socioeconomic disadvantage did not emerge as a significant variable in the models estimated. Results from Geographically Weighted Poisson Regression (GWPR) models indicate statistically significant spatial variation in the effects for all the key community factors. The findings highlight the importance of local context for developing a greater understanding of police violence across the urban landscape.

Fatigue Risk Management: Assessing and Ranking the Factors Affecting the Degree of Fatigue and Sleepiness of Heavy-Vehicle Drivers Using TOPSIS and Statistical Analyses

This descriptive–analytic study identified the factors affecting the degree of fatigue and sleepiness of heavy-vehicle drivers, assessed their effects, and ranked them according to extent of influence by using statistical analysis and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). Data were collected through interviews guided by a questionnaire, through which three main categories of factors that contribute to crashes caused by fatigue and sleepiness were discussed. These categories are (I) human, (II) road and environmental conditions, and (III) vehicle-related factors. The results showed that human and road and environmental conditions exert the strongest and weakest effects, respectively. The statistical and TOPSIS results revealed that the first four factors that exert the strongest effects are inappropriate behaviors of passengers and goods owners, non-standard roads, inappropriate behaviors of police, and economic problems of heavy-vehicle drivers.

International Organizations, Nongovernmental Organizations, and Police Implementation of Domestic Violence Policies in Liberia and Nicaragua

AbstractDomestic violence is the predominant form of violence against women in most countries in Africa and Latin America. Scholars have theorized the adoption of domestic violence laws and policies in both regions. However, policy implementation is understudied and under theorized. Therefore, we compare how international organizations and women's nongovernmental organizations have influenced the implementation of domestic violence policies by police officers in Liberia and Nicaragua. We introduce the concept of the transnational implementation process and describe how international organizations and women's organizations have employed training, institutional and policy restructuring, and monitoring to influence police behavior at the street level. The effects of these strategies have been conditional on the political environment. We identify two patterns of international and domestic influence on street-level implementation: internationally led and domestically supported implementation in Liberia, with domestically led and internationally supported implementation in Nicaragua.

How does oversight affect police? Evidence from the police misconduct reform

This paper assesses how Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations affect policing behaviors. From 2010 – 2013, nine local police agencies were investigated for civil rights violations and police misconduct and most reached settlements with the DOJ. These settlements mandate extensive reforms such as retraining of officers, collaboration with community representatives and modernization of procedures related to the use of force. Using both the synthetic control method and the panel data approach proposed by Hsiao et al. (2012), I find a significant reduction in misdemeanor arrests of blacks during that period. However, I do not observe a meaningful impact on felony arrests and arrests of whites. These findings suggest that the investigations indeed affected officers’ policing behaviors, but I find no evidence of universal de-policing effects in the investigated agencies.

Police perception of citizens and its impact on police effectiveness and behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the similarities and differences in police officers’ attitudes toward citizens between China and Ghana, and explore the extent to which officers’ perceptions of citizens influence their effectiveness and behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 271 Chinese police officers were surveyed representing those attending in-service training program at a national police university in China in 2014, and a random sample of 145 Ghanaian police officers was surveyed in 2013, representing those from five police districts in the Accra region of Ghana Police service.FindingsResults revealed significant perceptual variations across the two countries. While Ghanaian officers were found to have more favorable perceptions of citizens’ cooperation and recognition, Chinese officers reported greater levels of citizens’ compliance and disrespectfulness. Moreover, results indicated significant relationships between officers’ attitudes and their sense of effectiveness and behavior in the two countries.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on a convenient sample of Chinese police officers, which restricts the generalizability of the results.Practical implicationsFindings offer insights for police administrators to reform the police with a focus on improving police perceptions of citizens.Originality/valueAlthough there are a few comparative studies that compare police attitudes toward citizens between developing and developed countries, and between western democracies, there is a profound lack of studies comparing these attitudes between developing/transitional countries. This study is an initial attempt to identify variations in officers’ perceptions of the public between two developing/transitional countries.

Entre holofotes e fracassos

Este artigo aborda o Programa Ronda do Quarteirão, segmento da polícia militar concebido e implementado em 2007 no Ceará e apresentado pelo governo estadual como uma proposta de polícia comunitária, a “Polícia da boa vizinhança”. O marketing político e estético por trás das propagandas enfatizava as possíveis mudanças que a sofisticada infraestrutura de trabalho do programa traria. A partir de 2008, no entanto, alguns episódios envolvendo ações policiais e comportamentos considerados desviantes por parte dos agentes de segurança que atuavam no Programa Ronda do Quarteirão suscitaram discussões sobre a viabilidade desta “nova polícia”. Percebeu-se, assim, que para além de uma proposta diferencial de polícia para o estado, de caráter preventivo e de proximidade, a recorrência a práticas de caráter repressivo por parte de seus agentes continuou a ser o modus operandi da segurança pública em seu conjunto.

Testing a Theoretical Model of Perceived Audience Legitimacy: The Neglected Linkage in the Dialogic Model of Police–community Relations

Objectives: Democratic policing involves an ongoing dialogue between officers and citizens about what it means to wield legitimate authority. Most of the criminological literature on police legitimacy has focused on citizens’ perceptions of this dialogue—that is, audience legitimacy. Consequently, we know little about how officers perceive their legitimacy in the eyes of the public and the antecedents of such perceptions. Pulling together separate strands of literature pertaining to citizen demeanor, hostile media perceptions, and danger perception theory, we propose and test a theoretical model of perceived audience legitimacy. Method: We conducted two separate studies: the first a survey of 546 officers working at a southern U.S. agency and the second a survey of a national probability sample of 665 executives and high-ranking officers. Results: Local violent crime rates, but not minority group size or growth, are associated with lower perceived audience legitimacy. Additionally, recent experiences with citizen disrespect and global perceptions of citizen animus are both inversely associated with perceived audience legitimacy. The perceived hostility of local, but not national, media coverage is also associated with lower perceived audience legitimacy. Conclusions: Our results suggest a need for additional research that explores whether the antecedents of audience legitimacy indirectly affect police behaviors, like the use of force.

Intraspecific killing in dogs: Predation behavior or aggression? A study of aggressors, victims, possible causes, and motivations

In the Netherlands, dogs may be seized by the police when they have killed or seriously wounded another dog. Police reports on these incidents reveal that some dogs attack vigorously and fast, without warning. In the veterinary behavior clinic at Utrecht University, these types of attacks were earlier recognized in referred dogs, leading to a set of diagnostic criteria for ‘‘dog-killing aggression’’ to distinguish from ritualized intraspecific aggressive patterns. To understand these vigorous types of attacks better, details from police reports and behavior test results of a group of 128 seized dogs and data gathered during behavioral anamneses of 151 referred dogs in a clinical setting were systematically analyzed to identify (1) the type of aggressors, (2) the victims, and (3) the possible factors underlying this intraspecific killing, including motivations. With respect to the aggressors, the population of referred dogs included a broad range of breeds with no breed outstanding. In contrast, in the seized dog population, 56% of the dog-killing dogs were of the American Staffordshire/pit bull terrier type. This difference might reflect owner characteristics with one group being less intended to ask for help in case of problem behavior or it could suggest a genetic, predisposition to react with dog-killing aggression in contact with other dogs or there may be combination of elements. These data, however, are not a proof of a genetic predisposition. In the seized dog population, 83% of victims were small-sized dogs of different breed types. The analysis of the anamnesis of the referred dogs, and voluntary remarks by owners of the seized dogs, revealed that the most frequently mentioned event precipitating this form of vigorous fast attack without warning was having been attacked by a dog somewhat earlier in life (36/24% of these referred dogs). Other, less frequently mentioned precipitating factors were insufficient socialization to other types of dogs during the primary socialization period (21/14% of these referred dogs) or showing a general tendency to prey on other species (9/6% of these referred dogs). The data suggest that for a number of dogs, aggression, rather than predation, was the underlying motivation, but that certain characteristics of the attacks strongly resemble predatory behavior. For the large majority of seized dogs, no information was available on their life history, which limits conclusions regarding causal factors. Therefore, predation cannot be excluded for some dogs. Dog-killing dogs may limit themselves to attacking the type of dog they had unpleasant experiences with before (specialists), or they may generalize their aggressive behaviors to several types of prospective victims (generalists) as found in the data. The consequence of these findings is that getting prior information on the type of victims and the precise details of the attacks are of utmost importance for testing, diagnostics, and making risk assessments. We plead for preventing escalating dog-dog aggression by management and training intervention and not letting the dogs “sort out their conflicts by fighting” because having been attacked by another dog may be an initiating event in some dogs to develop dog-killing aggression.

Group position, consciousness and perception of police fairness among urban residents in China

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the importance of group position and consciousness in predicting people’s perceptions of police fairness in China. Design/methodology/approach This study used survey data collected from 1,095 respondents in Shanghai. Multivariate regression was used to analyze the effects of group positions and group consciousness variables on perceived police fairness, controlling for personal, experiential and neighborhood factors. Findings Regardless of their own hukou status, individuals who live in high migrant areas expressed less favorable attitudes toward police fairness. Meanwhile, people who displayed greater degrees of sensitivity to bias in law rated police fairness less favorably, whereas people who expressed higher levels of moral alignment with the law and belief in no choice but to obey the police rated police fairness more favorably. Lower levels of neighborhood disorder and higher degrees of cohesion were also associated with more positive evaluations of police fairness. Research limitations/implications The authors’ measure of migrant concentration was constructed based on respondents’ own assessments of this neighborhood feature. Future studies should consider using objective measures to supplement the construction of migrant concentration variables. The authors’ group consciousness variables are limited as they are general, non-residential status specific and only capture part of the traditionally conceptualized variable of group consciousness. Future study should employ better-worded items that can tap precisely into people’s various dimensions of social consciousness based on their group status. Practical implications Training officers has to give a high priority to the principles of both procedural and distributive justice, and implement performance and evaluation policies that support fair and responsive police behavior, particularly during situations where citizens report crime to and seek help from the police. Originality/value Despite their high relevance, variables reflecting group position have received marginal attention in previous research on public evaluations of the police in China. This study represents a first attempt to examine how the interactions between residence status and the level of neighborhood migrant concentration influence Chinese attitudes toward police fairness.

Policing

Ashleigh Griffin introduces policing behaviors with which animals enforce cooperation.

The Bias Is Built In: How Administrative Records Mask Racially Biased Policing

Researchers often lack the necessary data to credibly estimate racial discrimination in policing. In particular, police administrative records lack information on civilians that police observe but do not investigate. In this paper, we show that if police racially discriminate when choosing whom to investigate, analyses using administrative records to estimate racial discrimination in police behavior are statistically biased, rendering many quantities of interest unidentified---even among investigated individuals---absent strong and untestable assumptions. Using principal stratification in a causal mediation framework, we derive the exact form of the statistical bias that results from traditional estimation. We develop a bias-correction procedure and nonparametric sharp bounds for race effects, replicate published findings, and show the traditional estimator can severely underestimate levels of racially biased policing or mask discrimination entirely. We conclude by outlining a general and feasible design for future studies that is robust to this inferential snare.

From the point of a gun to the point of starvation: economic conscription in post-conflict policing

ABSTRACTA central aspect of post-conflict policing literature holds that the new force must differentiate itself from its predecessor. In the efforts to democratize Iraqi police, trainers and recruits alike espouse lofty ideals regarding who should join and how police should behave. However, these ideals are directly contradicted by low qualification levels and the public behavior of police. Drawing from an intensive ethnographic study of police training in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), I argue that while having broken from the forced conscription of the Hussein era, the new force is staffed by economic conscription, comprised of reluctant volunteers who joined to escape poverty and receive little training on the new responsibilities of democratic police. While the methods of conscription have changed, the results remain the same – a force comprised largely of people who do not want to be police and who do not respect the rights of citizens.

Is Police Behavior Getting Worse? The Importance of Data Selection in Evaluating the Police

Public concern about harmful policing is surging. Governments are paying historic amounts for law enforcement liability. Has police behavior changed? Or is society responding differently? Traditional data sources struggle with this question. Common metrics conflate the prevalence and severity of policing harms with the responses of legal actors such as lawyers, judges, and juries. We overcome this problem using a new data source: liability insurance claims. Our dataset contains 23 years of claims against roughly 350 law enforcement agencies that contract with a single insurer. We find that, while lawsuits and payouts have trended upwards over the past decade, insurance claims have declined. We examine multiple potential explanations. We argue that, in our sample, police behavior is not getting worse; rather, societal responses to policing harms are intensifying. Police litigation is not representative of the broader universe of claims and adjudicated claims also differ systematically from settled ones.

Pacification of Rio's Favelas and the “Pacification of the Pacification Police”: The Role of Coordinating Brokerage in Police Reform

Rio de Janeiro's drug dealer–dominated favelas are territories where the state lacks the monopoly of violence. They have historically been sites of sporadic and violent police operations. Rio's favela “pacification” program aimed to consolidate state control via the establishment of a Pacification Police Unit (UPP). This proximity policing program initially experienced mixed results in different “pacified” favelas. I take advantage of this state intervention at the urban margins to ask, what explains the positive reception of this policing initiative in some communities but not others? I concentrate my fieldwork in two communities sharing a UPP that represented extreme cases of success in terms of the program's reception by residents. I find that the coordinating brokerage of respected local organizations helps acculturate police to the community and minimize offensive police behavior, thereby “pacifying the Pacification Police.” Residents are receptive to these resocialized police who comply with local norms of respect. This police‐reforming brokerage is possible due to the high level of closure in the local network and due to a vibrant local community with a strong history of organizing. My findings emphasize the importance of considering the role of local civil society in police reform at the urban margins.

Police discretion, organizational characteristics, and traffic stops: An analysis of racial disparity in illinois

An important source of racial disparity in policing is traffic enforcement. The level of discretion afforded to officers for traffic enforcement is generally greater than it is for other policing decisions. One way to control misuse of discretion is through minority representation, which is the extent that the racial composition of the police agency matches that of the local community. Using data from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the 2013 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS), this study examines how social context and police organizational variables (e.g., minority representation) relate to enforcement outcomes. We find that organizational measures, including minority representation, relate to written citations and consent search requests. Moreover, non-white population size conditions the effect of minority representation on traffic stops and citations. These results highlight the importance of accounting for both social context and organizational characteristics when research examines discretionary police behavior.

Development of a measure of mental health stigma including police behaviors

Various stigmatizing notions are associated with mental illness, resulting in negative personal (e.g. employment discrimination) and societal (e.g. public treatment of the mentally ill as ‘dangerous’ and/or ‘criminal’) outcomes. This study develops and validates a new multi-scale assessment tool to assess several dimensions of mental illness stigma, including perceived dangerousness, self-care, social distance, treatment amenability and predicted police behavior. A total of 641 undergraduate students from various American universities completed the new stigma measure along with two other existing measures. The results indicate that the new stigma measure has an acceptable three-factor solution consisting of self-care, dangerousness and police behavior. The self-care and dangerousness factors were found to have concurrent validity with the corresponding scales of the existing measures. Future research involving different populations, as well as the policy implications of the new police behavior factor, are discussed.

When no one is watching: evaluating the impact of body-worn cameras on use of force incidents

ABSTRACT Outcomes associated with police body-worn cameras (BWCs) and their influence on use of force is chiefly known from large-scale implementation studies and randomised controlled trials. While these studies provide valuable insight, there is concern that these studies are susceptible to the Hawthorne effect. Using an interrupted time series analysis, this study examines whether the implementation of BWCs had an effect on use of force incidents within a United States department that independently adopted BWCs and did not participate in a collaborative research trial. Results show that while there was a non-significant drop in use of force incidents at the month of BWC implementation, there was a steady, significant increase in use of force incidents for every month following implementation. The number of incidents reaches pre-BWC implementation frequencies after three years. These findings indicate that BWCs may influence police behaviour immediately following implementation, though this influence weakens over time as BWCs become normalised with daily police use.