Context Of Policing Research Articles

Turning it on and off: a behavioural and situational comparison of non-fatal violence perpetrated by on- versus off-duty police officers

ABSTRACT Though research into police use of force continues to expand, analysis of off-duty police violence remains deficient and duty status comparisons of police violence are almost non-existent. Some argue that the broader policing context may ‘spill-over’ into off-duty settings, creating a consistency in police behaviour regardless of duty status. Others argue that off-duty police violence is vastly different from on-duty excessive force. The present study aimed to empirically compare extra-legal violence by police officers committed on- versus off-duty, to explore possible duty status differences in behaviours of the offending officers and the victims involved, as well as situational characteristics of the encounters. A sample of 119 cases (61 on-duty and 58 off-duty) of violence by Australian police officers that was determined to have violated law or policy was collected from open access sources (law reports and media articles) and content analysed. Chi-square analysis was used to select variables into three multivariate regression models to predict duty status from offender behaviour, victim behaviour, and individual/situational characteristics. A final regression model then included all resultant significant factors. The primary finding was the consistency across duty status in many aspects, particularly officer characteristics, despite some notable differences in context. The full model showed the factors most predictive of duty status to be offender verbal behaviour and handcuff use, and the situational characteristics of the number of offending officers present and whether the victim had been suspected of a crime. The behavioural consistency across duty status is discussed in terms of spill-over of police violence.

Exploring the Relationship between Decision-Making Styles and Emotion Regulation: A Study of Police Officials in Portuguese Public Security

In public security policing, where pressure is constant, effective decision-making and emotion regulation are critical, especially for leaders. These processes significantly impact upon work results, performance, officials’ health, employee well-being, and the organizational environment. This study aims to broaden the understanding of decision-making styles and emotion-regulation strategies used by police officials in the Portuguese Public Security Police (PSP). We surveyed 138 Portuguese high-ranking police officials using two self-response questionnaires, namely the Emotion Regulation in the Workplace (ReTrab) and the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ), both translated, adapted, and validated for the Portuguese police context. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, followed by correlations to explore the relationship between emotion-regulation strategies and decision-making styles. Finally, through a regression analysis, the potential impact of this relationship was assessed. The results reveal that specific emotion-regulation strategies, except for adaptive ones, significantly influence and modify the decision-making styles of PSP officials. Dysfunctional and maladaptive emotion-regulation strategies lead to less adaptive decision-making styles, while functional strategies promote more adaptive styles. These findings have theoretical and practical implications, offering valuable insights for targeted training programs and interventions in the law-enforcement sector, benefiting the police personnel, the communities they serve, and public perceptions about police.

The efficacy of the Delphi method for adapting cognitive interviewing instructions into culturally and linguistically diverse international policing contexts

In interviewing witnesses, the Cognitive Interviewing (CI) technique has become an international benchmark with the potential to significantly reduce coercive tactics in police interviews. However, this requires the adaptation of CI to new languages, cultures and legal systems. This article demonstrates that such adaptation is a more complex exercise than merely translating the training manuals. It proposes an evidence-based translation procedure known as the Delphi method using rounds of questionnaires with experts in relevant fields. It demonstrates transparently the process of adapting the CI instructions to non-English-speaking countries using an example from Indonesia. Importantly, the proposed method takes into account the pragma-linguistic context of police interviews in Indonesia. This article provides a road map for adapting investigative interviewing to culturally and linguistically diverse international communities required by the implementation of the 2021 United Nations Declaration of ‘The Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering’.

Impacts and ethics of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) by the Indian Police

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the impacts and ethics of utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Indian policing. It explores both the positive and negative consequences of using AI, as well as the ethical considerations that have be taken into account.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on secondary sources of information, such as national and international reports, journal articles, and institutional websites that discuss the use of AI technology by the police in India.FindingsAI has proven to be effective in policing, from preventing crime to identifying criminals, by detecting potential crimes in advance with fewer resources and in more areas. In India, the police use AI technology not only for facial recognition but also for crime mapping, analysis, and building blocks. However, factors such as caste, religion, language, and gender continue to cause conflict. India has shown a strong interest in using AI technology for policing, and wishes to accelerate its implementation in various policing contexts, including law and order. This paper calls for an assessment of the complexities and uncertainties brought about by new technologies in policing with ethical considerations.Originality/valueThis paper can provide valuable insights for policy-makers, academics, and practitioners engaged in discussions and debates concerning the ethical considerations associated with the adoption of AI tools in policing practices.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within Ireland’s Police Service, An Garda Síochána: Bridging the Gap between Commitments and Reality

Abstract The Black Lives Matter movement highlighted the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in a policing context. Using the Irish police service, An Garda Síochána, as a case study, this article critically evaluates efforts to promote EDI within a policing organization that has been characterized as resistant to change. It focuses primarily on the implementation of relevant recommendations contained in the landmark 2018 Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. It demonstrates that while building a culture that respects and promotes EDI within any organization is a challenging process, it can be even more difficult in policing organizations due to police sub-culture. It submits that laws, policies and commitments, while necessary, are insufficient of themselves to achieve transformative change. Strong and committed leadership is also required, as well as measures to recruit and retain a diverse workforce at all levels, sufficient resourcing for EDI initiatives, EDI training that accords with international best practice, efforts to improve relationships with marginalized communities, measures to combat hate crime and racial profiling, effective mechanisms for collecting EDI data and evaluating EDI policies, and a robust governance, oversight and accountability framework. While identifying and welcoming measures undertaken to date by An Garda Síochána to convert EDI policy commitments into reality, the article also highlights areas where improvements are necessary. Finally, aligning with several theorists of police sub-culture, the article concludes that any efforts to promote EDI within An Garda Síochána will need to be accompanied by efforts to combat structural inequality in wider society.

What has changed and why: the transformation and (de)legitimisation of post-COVID policing in Hong Kong and Taiwan

ABSTRACT This paper conducts a comparative analysis of the governance and policing frameworks in Hong Kong and Taiwan, examining their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic’s public health crisis and the resulting shifts in policing contexts. Hong Kong experienced significant changes in police-citizen relations before the pandemic, notably during the 2019 protests that garnered global media attention and eroded public trust in the government. With the advent of COVID-19, Hong Kong introduced stringent anti-pandemic legislation aimed at achieving ‘zero-COVID’, further empowering the police for law enforcement. In contrast, Taiwan effectively managed the epidemic from 2020, keeping mass infections at bay until mid-2022, without significant social conflicts. This study delves into the academic implications of these divergent outcomes, seeking to explain what and why changes occurred (or did not) in these two places. Hong Kong’s response to the global health crisis, including the introduction of the National Security Law, fundamentally transformed its policing context, dismantling autonomous civil societies and reshaping public trust in the government and its police. In comparison, Taiwan’s policing exhibited limited post-crisis transformation, maintaining high public trust even amid stringent quarantine and lockdown regulations. This divergence reflects varying pathways of the legitimisation of police influenced by geopolitics, underscoring the importance of comparative studies in comprehending transformations of policing in different contexts following the global public health crisis.

Kafka’s beautiful eyes: Forensic intelligence utilisation of phenotypic information

Franz Kafka had beautiful eyes. So striking, that many of the famous author’s friends and peers commented on them – but quite variously (‘dark’, ‘brown’, ‘grey’ & ‘blue’). Eye colour as perceived by an observer is subjective, being influenced by physiological, environmental, and even sociocultural factors. In a policing context, this does not mean that trait information such as eye colour is not valuable (far from it), but that it must be managed carefully. The Australian Federal Police has recently implemented a forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP, aka. physical trait prediction or PTP) capability, utilising massively parallel sequencing DNA technology to predict an individual’s eye colour, biogeographical ancestry and sex from a crime scene sample. This information alone is not itself ‘intelligence’, but can be used to generate intelligence through holistic analyses undertaken within a transdisciplinary, all-source forensic intelligence (FORINT) framework. FORINT outputs posit abductive propositions typically at the activity/offence level, to provide insight and influence decision making. However, the use of predicted traits requires that they are compared to something; all Australian police databases include fields for physical traits, but no uniform standard is applied across all agencies. Moreover, collection is inconsistent and no automated systems are in place to capture such data systematically. Consider the ‘Kafka problem’: his peers gave multiply divergent descriptions of his eyes. If a Biology unit had predicted the eye colour of an ‘unidentified author’ using DNA – how would Kafka be confidently nominated as the contributor? We posit three maxims for law enforcement: (1) To expand the operational utility of forensic science in line with police demands, forensic science should operationalise FDP (e.g. operationally to rank a list of persons of interest, focus lines of enquiry in serious & organised crime, or assist with human remains identification). (2) Such advanced biological techniques are best delivered through an all-source FORINT framework, to maximise opportunities and minimise risk. (3) One cannot pursue techno-scientific advancements in isolation; it is also necessary to influence the operational posture for their implementation. In this paper we explore these issues and provide recommendations relating to (a) police practices, (b) image capture systems, and (c) research opportunities. Phenotypic trait prediction has great potential and can be operationalised effectively through a rigorous FORINT framework. However, there is (continual) work to be done to enhance the operational capabilities that are complementary to – but necessary for – effective forensic science contribution to investigations.

Discriminating Deceptive From Truthful Statements Using the Verifiability Approach

When considering suspect statements, truthful statements contain more verifiable details compared to deceptive statements, supporting a core prediction of the Verifiability Approach (VA) to lie detection. However, this difference of verifiable details between truthful and deceptive statements is not always found. For example, the difference emerges for alibi statements, but not for other types of statements, such as statements related to insurance claims. While the VA appears to be a useful tool for detecting lying in laboratory-based studies, the effectiveness of the VA in real-world policing contexts remains unknown.

Holding the harasser responsible: Implications of identifying sexual harassment that includes abuse of power and quid pro quo elements as sexual corruption

AbstractThis article argues that a perpetrator‐based definition of sexual harassment that highlights corrupt aspects of sexual harassment may contribute to a shift in focus from the experience of the harassed, to the actions of the harasser. This argument is based on an analysis of testimonies of sexual harassment from the #metoo call by the Swedish police in 2017, which reference abuse of power and quid pro quo elements. By introducing the recently developed analytical framework of ‘sexual corruption’, we show how a perpetrator‐based definition of sexual harassment may contribute to attributing responsibility to harassers. Identifying sexual harassment that includes the abuse of power and quid pro quo elements as corruption centers on the role of the abuse of power and, thus, the responsibility of the person abusing their position of power. Moreover, this shift bypasses discussions of whether or not the situation was experienced as ‘unwelcome’ by the harassed, the severity of the act, and questions of coercion and consent. Identifying instances of sexual harassment that include the abuse of power and quid pro quo elements as corruption also closes off attempts to portray it in terms of ‘jokes’ or banter, which is common in the police context. The article contributes with analytical tools that enable a shift from tracing the experience of the harassed to centering on the actions and responsibility of the harasser.

Care for both victim-survivors and police investigators of rape and serious sexual offences in England and Wales

‘Care’ in a policing context naturally focuses on supporting victim-survivors. The aim of this article is to consider care for police officers who have regular exposure to rape and serious sexual offences cases and officer gender roles. We consider the care provided to (predominantly) female victim-survivors of rape and serious sexual offences by both male and female police officers and differences by gender in how officers support their own wellbeing. The overall findings, based on a cross-sectional survey, interviews and focus groups in five police forces in England and Wales, suggest that officers’ perceptions of their ability to cope and wellbeing are affected differently by gender. The quantitative findings suggest that rape and serious sexual offences officers have high levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and burnout, but female officers are better at prioritising wellbeing than their male counterparts. This research recommends equipping officers through specialist rape and serious sexual offences training that recognises ‘care’ as a necessary component of policing.

The International Performance, Resilience and Efficiency Program Protocol for the Application of HRV Biofeedback in Applied Law Enforcement Settings

Law enforcement officers are routinely exposed to high-threat encounters that elicit physiological stress responses that impact health, performance, and safety. Therefore, self-regulation using evidence-based approaches is a priority in police research and practice. This paper describes a five-module heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) protocol that is part of a larger resilience program (the International Performance Resilience and Efficiency Program – iPREP) established in 2014. Supported by 10 years of user-informed research and development, our methods are tailored to address occupational stressors and the practical realities of training and resource availability in operational settings. Building on existing clinical methods that comprise five to six weekly sessions and up to 40-min of daily practice, our iPREP HRVB protocol is typically delivered in a condensed format across 2–3 days and is seamlessly integrated with reality-based training scenarios commonly employed in policing. By combining best practices in clinical HRVB with police-specific pedagogical frameworks, officers receive accelerated and job-relevant training to adaptively modulate autonomic responses to acute and chronic stress. Efficacy of the iPREP HRVB protocol is supported by several research studies of various methodological designs (i.e., randomized control trial, longitudinal cohort) that demonstrate immediate and sustained improvements in police performance and physiological health outcomes. We conclude with a critical appraisal of the available empirical evidence contrasting common and emerging breathing techniques proposed for use in operational policing contexts. The critical appraisal guide is intended to serve as a resource for law enforcement agencies, governing bodies, and operators when choosing appropriate and effective self-regulation training approaches.

Community Contexts Predicting Fatal Police Shootings of Youth, 2014–2018

Between 2014 and 2018, at least 974 youth were fatally shot by the police. Racial disparities in fatal police shootings (FPS) have been well-established in existing research, but less attention has been paid to patterns in fatal police encounters with youth. This study uses a multisource and externally validated research design to track cases of FPS for individuals aged between 10 and 24. Cases were geocoded to the county-level and linked to multiple variables capturing social, demographic, and policing contexts. The results point to substantial racial disparities in FPS. Black youth are killed at nearly double the rate of white youth. Counties with heightened risks to the physical safety of law enforcement have more FPS. Shootings are also more frequent for Black youth in racially segregated communities.

Police relationships and engagement with rural citizens: perspectives of front-line police in the United Kingdom, Australia, and France

PurposeThis article examines challenges and strategies related to police relationships and engagement with rural communities in England and Wales, Australia and France. It aims to bridge a gap in knowledge around how police balance public demands with organisational and contextual constraints, exploring the role of communication technology in overcoming geographical and cultural barriers in rural policing.Design/methodology/approachThe research draws upon 121 semi-structured interviews conducted across three distinct jurisdictions. In the United Kingdom and Australia, interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams, while face-to-face interviews were conducted in France. Participants were recruited through the purposive sampling of police working in rural areas. The data were thematically analysed using NVivo Software.FindingsRural communities have low expectations of policing services, a consequence of geography, organisational structures and limited resource allocation. Building relationships can be challenging owing to isolation and terrain, the need for officers to have local and cultural knowledge, and difficulties in recruiting officers in rural posts. Technology-mediated communication has played a part in the solutions (e.g. social media). However, this may not always be suitable owing to limited connectivity, citizen and police preferences for communication and engagement, and the institutional and cultural nuances surrounding the application of technology.Originality/valueThis article provides empirical insights into the attitudes and experiences of rural police officers, highlighting the distinctive policing context and engagement needs of rural communities. The research underscores the necessity for contextually aware engagement. It suggests that while technology-mediated communication offers some solutions to spatial challenges, its effectiveness may be limited by access, generational preferences and the adaptability of police institutions and cultures.

Fuelling contempt for police: explaining why procedural injustice and police ineffectiveness damage Muslims’ trust in police

ABSTRACT Research shows that discriminatory policing can erode public trust in police. Yet, little research has examined the role that contempt can play in explaining this relationship. Focusing on Muslims in Australia, we test whether procedural justice and police effectiveness are associated with enhanced trust in police across two policing contexts (general duties policing and counterterrorism policing), and whether Muslims’ level of contempt for police mediates these relationships. Using survey data from 504 Muslims, we show that both procedural justice and police effectiveness are positively associated with Muslims’ trust in the police and negatively associated with contempt across both policing contexts. We also find that contempt is negatively associated with trust in both policing contexts. Finally, our findings show that contempt partially mediates the relationship between procedural justice and trust and between police effectiveness and trust. These findings reinforce the need for police to draw on procedurally fair and effective service delivery when engaging with minority groups who report strained relations with police. Our findings also highlight the need for scholars to closely consider distinct emotions as an important theoretical mechanism linking discriminatory police treatment with public (dis)trust of police.

Police predation and violence in urban Nigeria: The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)

ABSTRACT Police are omnipresent in Nigerian cities. The existence and actions of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) in cities such as Lagos, Ibadan, and Abuja are intended like elsewhere in the urban world to deter, reduce, and solve crime. This is true of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the NPF, created to combat armed robberies, car-snatchings, kidnappings, and cattle rustling. Its methods of seeking greater public security, however, raises questions about the fairness and efficacy of urban policing in Nigeria. Its reported police predation and violence during its stops, searches, detentions, and custody of urban denizens exacerbate socio-spatial injustices in Nigerian cities. We draw on the concept of the right to the city and qualitative data, including key informant interviews with Nigerian police, lawyers, and common city residents, including self-identified victims of SARS brutality, to describe how SARS helps us understand the context and characteristics of urban policing in Nigeria.

“They gotta beat us”: A qualitative investigation of multiple forms of violence and police interactions among urban youth

Interactions with police in neighborhoods shape how residents perceive justice and equity. A growing body of literature seeks to understand how young adults interact, experience, and perceive the criminal justice system with a focus on policing in their neighborhoods. However, to date much of the research in this area only focuses on singular forms of violence or vicarious police contact in relation to the views youth hold with regard to criminal justice. The purpose of this study is to identify the ways in which young adults living in Philadelphia conceptualize and experience multiple forms of violence embedded in policing practices. To capture young adult perceptions of policing at the intersection of multiple forms of violence we used multi-pronged qualitative methods, conducted 85 interviews and field observations, and collected geo-located heart rate data across 12 participants, aged 16 to 21. We find that exposure to multiple forms of violence (interpersonal, symbolic and structural) through policing practices lead to a mistrust of the criminal justice system. Key findings indicate that at times police escalate situations leading to increased violence and that youth may be negatively impacted not only through individual level interactions but also through the mere presence of law enforcement. These results highlight the importance of studying and intervening in violence in multiple forms, particularly within the context of policing.

Perceptions of psychosocial safety behaviour (PSB): Qualitative insights on workplace psychosocial safety perceptions & actions within a policing context

Recent behaviour-based approaches to workplace safety have articulated the need to operationalise psychosocial safety behaviour (PSB) as a unique construct within the safety behaviour literature. Research has yet to operationalise PSB according to context-specific psychosocial hazards, nor to identify the individual, interpersonal and systemic enablers and barriers to PSB performance. The present study addresses this gap by identifying the day-to-day psychosocial safety-focused actions and perceptions of psychosocial hazards within a cohort of road policing officers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in a sample of frontline officers, supervisors, and peer support officers to operationalise context-specific psychosocial safety behaviours. Officer attitudes, control and normative beliefs associated with psychosocial safety behaviour domains were examined according to Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour. While examples of both compliance and participatory safety behaviours were cited across all work roles, PSB enactment was more likely characterised as participatory and interpersonally driven in nature. Participant responses consistently referenced the intergenerational effects of PSB role modelling and positive supervisor attitudes towards mental health on PSB awareness and enactment. Positive attitudes towards mental health, perceptions of behavioural control and trust in leadership were nominated as salient factors influencing PSB enactment. The findings of our study extend the existing nomological network of PSB by considering the influences of socio- cognitive and workplace systems influences on psychosocial safety enactment.

Social Media Users Cyberhate Reporting Intentions: Does Users’ Perceptions of Police Effectiveness Matter?

In Kenya, social media platforms are the primary medium for cyberhate, and it predominantly affects university students who have extensive social media usage. Although cyberhate is considered as a criminal offence in Kenya, victims, particularly young people, often do not report victimisation to the police. Despite the well-documented harmful effects of cyberhate, the cause behind its underreporting remains unclear. Studies have established the influential role of attitudes, particularly views of police effectiveness, in shaping the choice to report crimes. However, insufficient focus has been given to examining this relationship, specifically within the context of cyberhate reporting. Moreover, potential variations in perceptions of police effectiveness across different policing contexts also introduce nuances to the relationship. Guided by the Instrumental Performance-Based Model of policing, the study explored the connection between social media users' views of police effectiveness and their intention to report incidents of cyberhate victimisation to the police. A descriptive survey design utilizing a quantitative approach was adopted, targeting undergraduate students at a public university in Kenya. From this population, a sampling frame consisting of 5,121 undergraduates was created by focusing on three faculties, and stratified sampling ensured proportional selection from all strata. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire administered to a randomly selected subset of 378 respondents, of whom 261 returned completed questionnaires. Spearman's correlation results revealed a positive and significant correlation between perceived police effectiveness and cyberhate reporting intentions. The study explored the implications of this finding for the National Police Service and suggested directions for future research.

Polish Uprising of 1863 in Memory Politics of Contemporary Ukraine

The article is devoted to the memory politics of the Ukraine in relation to the Polish revolt of 1863. It examines the evolution of the insurrection perception by the Ukrainian academic and public spheres after 1991: from an episode of Polish history to the positioning of this event as a joint attempt of anti-imperial struggle of “subjugated peoples”. The essay shows the stimulation of the historic policy fi gures activity to include the Polish revolt into the narrative of permanent confrontation with Russia which is actively promoted by offi cial Kiev authorities. The author reveals the foreign police context of the Ukrainian historical policy. He analyzes the interests and role of Poland in the revolt theme use intensifi cation for the achievement of the Polish own goals in the Ukraine. Particular attention is paid to modern commemorative practices in the Ukraine related to the uprising of 1863 and their impact on the construction of the Ukrainian national identity.

Recategorization: An Approach to Extending the Symbolic Benefits of Bureaucratic Representation to the Majority Group

Research has argued that the symbolic benefits of bureaucratic representation for marginalized social groups may come at the expense of the attitudes of the majority group. In this study, we investigate whether recategorization—that is, reframing previously separate groups as an inclusive common ingroup—can shift the majority group's perception of bureaucratic representation from a threat to a benefit. We conducted two vignette experiments with a representative sample of U.S. adults ( n = 1,040), in which we tested the same treatments in two policy domains: policing and healthcare. The results support our main hypothesis in the policing context. The effect of police chiefs’ race being African American on white respondents’ trust in the chief shifted from negative to positive when the chiefs portrayed African Americans discriminated by the police as members of American community, a superordinate common ingroup that encompasses every race, rather than simply as African Americans.