Exploring officers' acceptance of community policing: Implications for policy implementation

Organizations interested in implementing community policing should be cognizant of the attitudes of line officers toward this policy due to the fact line officers are responsible for implementing community policing on the street level. Successful implementation of organizational change may rely on identifying individuals who are most supportive of community policing. What remains unclear is what factors are related to officers' acceptance of community policing. This research examined the factors related to acceptance of the community policing philosophy. Surveys were administered at roll calls by researchers to a total of 445 officers of all departmental ranks. It was found that officers who supported informal problem-solving tactics perhaps involving agencies outside the police department, and officers who were non-White were more likely to support concepts of community policing. At the same time, several factors, which presumed to be related to community policing, did not materialize, including previous work on structured problem-solving projects, rank, education, and desire for autonomy. Explanations and policy implications are discussed.     

The pluralization of policing and the rise of private policing in China

Policing in China has undergone tremendous change during the economic transformation of the past three decades. This paper describes the plural policing bodies that have existed during pre- and post-reform periods in China. In the pre-reform period the policing bodies were generally public in nature with the public security police playing an important role in providing professional guidance to the other policing bodies. In the post-reform period, there has been a transition from a monopoly of public policing to an integration of public/private policing, with the public security police still playing a leading role in the policing network. Apart from the emergence of private policing (the security service industry), there is also a trend towards privatizing some previously public policing bodies in line with the movement toward strengthening the rule of law and towards privatization in general.     

Exploring officer views of community policing in counterterrorism

Abstract

Recently there has been increased emphasis on actionable intelligence in counterterrorism. Building from the process-based model of regulation, police chiefs and scholars generally agree that community policing has promise in this regard. Yet, it is not clear the extent to which police officers concur. Since officers are in a position to implement community policing practices, it is important to understand variants in officer-level support. Using data collected from 741 officers in three departments, this project explores officer-level views of community policing’s utility to address terrorism and more common crimes. Overall, officers view community policing as appropriate to address both common crimes and terrorism. Results suggest that department-level policy itself is not the key driver of support. Rather, an officer’s own experience with community policing and support for the practice in general determine views on community policing in counterterrorism. Results also highlight the importance of comparative research across departments.     

Social anxiety as a predictor of dating aggression

By far, most research on the behavior of socially anxious individuals has focused on the "flight" rather than the "fight" response described in the traditional conceptualization of anxiety. More recently, however, there has been some speculation and emerging evidence suggesting that social anxiety and aggression may be related. The present study examined social anxiety as a predictor of dating aggression within a late adolescent sample. Two forms of dating aggression were assessed: physical aggression, such as slapping, use of a weapon, or forced sexual activity, and psychological aggression, such as slamming doors, insulting, or refusing to talk to one's partner. One aspect of social anxiety, Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE), emerged as a significant predictor of male dating aggression, even after controlling for relationship quality. Notably, FNE was most predictive of increased aggression of both types when men also perceived their romantic relationship to be more antagonistic. Despite its demonstrated importance as a contextual variable, however, relationship quality did not mediate the association between FNE and psychological or physical aggression. Implications for prevailing conceptualizations of social anxiety and dating aggression are discussed.     

Perceptions of community policing in a small town

Much of the information regarding community policing is based upon research conducted in large urban areas. In contrast, this article utilizes survey data to examine resident perceptions of community-policing practices in a small southern town. Low response rates from minority citizens, along with the negative impressions reported by minority participants, point to race as a major concern. Black respondents are less willing to trust the police, express greater dissatisfaction with the police, and grade the police significantly lower than do white participants. Interestingly, community-policing measures do not appear to enhance perceptions of the police. Suggestions for future research are offered.     

The changing character of criminality and policing in post-socialist Lithuania: From fighting organized crime to policing marginal populations?

This paper argues that the character ofcriminality in post-socialist Lithuania isundergoing a significant change. Up untilthe mid 1990s criminality was defined bythe conflict between the state and criminalgroups who challenged the state's authorityin the re-distribution of state property.Criminal groups used violence to challengethe state's rules and regulations regardingthe process and outcomes of privatization. The state responded by legal andinstitutional reforms leading tomilitarization and centralization of thepolice force.Successful legal and police reformsinitiated during the early 1990s led to adramatic decline in organized crimeactivities. Crime rates also began tostabilize because of the improvingsocio-economic situation in the country. As a result, by the mid 1990s the characterof criminality began to change. There aresigns that it is increasingly associatedwith the growing social and economicmarginalization of those segments of thepopulation, which did not (or could not)adapt to the introduction of competitivemarkets. The situation was aggravated by arapid decline of employment within theLithuanian economy and significantcurtailment of social welfare provided bythe state. A growing number ofindividuals, especially males with poorskills and education whose employmentopportunities were severely restricted withthe decline in manufacturing industries,were dropping out from the labor force evenin the presence of jobs; were not marrying;and were increasingly plagued by a varietyof social pathologies and health problemsincluding crime, alcoholism, drug abuse,and depression. New forms of entrenchedpoverty unknown during the socialist erasuch as vagabonds and homelessness,including homeless children, has nowdeveloped and is associated with itsapparently inevitable concomitant increasedpetty criminality.     

Decoding of memory traces as a function of witness' intelligence

The paper deals with the problem of the effectiveness of interrogation and identification parade (recall and recognition) as a function of witnesses' Intelligence Quotient. Two experiments in photo identification form were performed to verify a hypothesis that IQ does not affect the ability to recognize a human face. The subjects whose average IQ (according to Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale WAIS) was 65.9 (females) and 66.3 (males) obtained the same results as the subjects whose average IQ was 105.3 (females) and 99.5 (males); t1 = 13.77, p1 less than 0.001, t2 = 12.13, p2 less than 0.001, chi 2 = 0, P greater than 0.99.     

The collateral consequences of GPS-LED supervision in hot spots policing

Hot spots policing is popular, yet little is known about officer receptivity to the tactic and its impact on internal procedural justice, organizational commitment, and self-legitimacy. The nature of the tactic means that officers must relinquish their discretionary powers so that they can be directed to crime and disorder locations at specific times and for regimented durations. This loss of ‘spatiotemporal autonomy’ is exacerbated by technological tracking devices. We examined the receptivity of British officers to hot spots patrols, where the deployment was tracked with individual GPS trackers, compared to parallel patrols without hot spots policing or tracking. In contrast to the comparison group, officers in hot spots disliked the routinization of their shifts; regimented patrols were detrimental for internal procedural justice and organizational commitment. The ramifications of the introduction of GPS-enabled systems include certain tracking of officers and their compliance, such as a Taylorist time and motion study. While hot spots policing remains an effective tactic, questions about sustainability may be raised if officers’ expectations, attitudes and receptivity are not managed.     

Empathy as a predictor of recidivism among young adult offenders

This longitudinal study examined the role of empathy in predicting recidivism among young adult offenders. During their prison terms, 748 male offenders between the ages of 15 and 28 were administered the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI; Davis, 1980). Official criminal records were used to determine general as well as violent recidivism during the (on average) five years following release from prison. Cox regression models of reoffense rates were calculated using IRI scales as explanatory variables while controlling for age, socioeconomic status, duration of imprisonment, and intelligence. The global empathy score and the subscales of perspective taking and empathic fantasy, but neither empathic concern nor personal distress, contributed to the prediction of recidivism. Furthermore, empathy did not contribute significantly to the prediction of violent reoffending. However, comparing offenders whose index crimes were violent versus nonviolent, violent offenders scored lower on the IRI and recidivated more often with a violent offence than did nonviolent offenders.     

Tokenism in policing: An empirical test of Kanter's hypothesis

This study presented the first quantitative test of tokenism theory (Kanter, 1977) in a municipal policing context with data collected from a large sample of Baltimore police officers (Gershon, 1999). In bivariate and multivariate analyses, the effects of gender and race status and their interaction on three dependent variables capturing the central dynamics of tokenism (visibility/performance pressure, contrast/social isolation, and assimilation/role encapsulation) were explored. The study found weak to moderate support for the theory, but no evidence of a distinct “double token” interaction effect between race and gender statuses. By and large, race status alone predicted the greatest tokenism consequences. Limitations and future directions for tokenism research in policing are discussed.     

Accounting for rapid growth of private policing in South Korea

Although private policing has existed since the dawn of society, the widespread availability of private policing is a relatively new phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to explore the contributing factors in the rapid growth of private policing by examining the Korean case. This study also attempted to explore the nature and implications of private policing within large context of political, economic, legal, and cultural systems. Several factors contributed to the popularization of private policing in recent years. The decentralization of policing authority provided a political ground for the growth of private policing. The economic affluence in the late 1980s also paved the way for the wide availability of private policing and its specialization in Korea. The findings of this study revealed that the changing nature of legal culture, from mediation and reconciliation to litigation, contributed to the rapid growth of private policing in Korea. In addition, fear of crime and some historical events such as the Olympic Games were closely related to the expansion of private policing in Korea.     

Social network analysis as a tool for criminal intelligence: understanding its potential from the perspectives of intelligence analysts

Over the past two decades an increasing number of researchers have applied social network analysis (SNA) to various ‘dark’ networks. This research suggests that SNA is capable of revealing significant insights into the dynamics of dark networks, particularly the identification of critical nodes, which can then be targeted by law enforcement and security agencies for disruption. However, there has so far been very little research into whether and how law enforcement agencies can actually leverage SNA in an operational environment and in particular the challenges agencies face when attempting to apply various network analysis techniques to criminal networks. This paper goes some way towards addressing these issues by drawing on qualitative interviews with criminal intelligence analysts from two Australian state law enforcement agencies. The primary contribution of this paper is to call attention to the organisational characteristics of law enforcement agencies which, we argue, can influence the capacity of criminal intelligence analysts to successfully apply SNA as much as the often citied ‘characteristics of criminal networks’.     

Examining anxiety as a predictor of homicidality: a pilot study

Homicidality rates have been shown to be more prominent among persons diagnosed with mental disorders as compared to the general population. However, the role that anxiety plays in homicidal ideation and intent is poorly understood. This study investigated predictors of homicidal intent, thought, or plan in an adult population of psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Results suggest that the factors most strongly associated with homicidality include male gender, substance abuse, mania, and current legal problems. Multiple regression analyses showed that only male gender predicted homicidality when other variables were taken into account.     

Addressing the accountability challenges of international policing in peace support operations

There is increasing concern over the behaviour and accountability of international personnel, including CIVPOL contingents, deployed in peace-keeping and peace-building missions throughout the world. From the point of view of local populations the ??internationals?? are typically perceived to be ??above the law??. This is directly related to the fact that under status of forces or mission agreements (SOFAs or SOMAs) they are exempt from local host state jurisdiction. There are also significant practical problems in gathering and presenting evidence for disciplinary or criminal proceedings in their home states. This paper will analyse these problems in detail, based on a study of some recent European Union and international missions and suggest how a more co-operative home and host state approach to monitoring, investigation and adjudication of alleged misconduct might achieve more effective accountability and thus contribute to the overall success of CIVPOL missions.