The Differential Role of Stress on Police Officers’ Perceptions of Misconduct

Asian Journal of Criminology - This study examines the influence of stress, by way of subdimensions of anxiety, and depression, on police officers’ perceptions of the seriousness of various...     

Command-level Police Officers’ Perceptions of the “War on Cops” and De-policing

Policing has been the subject of intense public scrutiny for the better part of two years after several high-profile police killings of unarmed African Americans across the United States. The scrutiny has been so extreme that some contend there is currently a “war on cops”—whereby citizens are emboldened by protests and negative media coverage of the police, and are lashing out by assaulting police officers more frequently. In response, it is argued that officers are de-policing (i.e. avoiding proactive stops). We surveyed command-level police officers from a southeastern state about their attitudes concerning the war on cops and de-policing. The majority of our sample believed there has been a war on cops over the last two years. Moreover, officers who felt strongly about the existence of a war on cops were more likely to believe that de-policing is common among officers in today’s world of law enforcement.     

Police Officers’ Theories of Crime

What factors do police officers point to in explaining offending and victimization? A limited amount of prior research has addressed this question, despite the possibility that such theories impact police practice. Moreover, the findings that do exist are based solely on municipal police; yet a different socio-environmental context could lead officers to adopt different explanations. In the present paper, we draw on qualitative data obtained in interviews with campus police officers to explore how they explain common crimes on campus. They theorized petty larceny, underage drinking, and drug possession to result from a variety of factors, including opportunity, social learning, supervision, culture, peer pressure, the psychopharmacological effect of alcohol on crime, and deterrence; as a collective, these ideas form officers’ rational choice theories. After presenting our findings, we suggest how officers’ explanations of crime may be shaped by working in particular contexts and also affect how they police; implications for future research and police practice are discussed.     

Do Police Body-Worn Cameras Reduce Citizen Fatalities? Results of a Country-Wide Natural Experiment

Journal of Quantitative Criminology - This study assesses the effects of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on rates of fatalities arising from police-citizen encounters. While existing experimental research...     

Language Proficiency and Police Officers’ Lie Detection Performance

We examined lay persons’ and police officers’ abilities to detect lying in second-language speakers. Participants (N?=?121) viewed targets who were lying or telling the truth about an event in either their first or second languages. Overall, participants were better able to detect deception in native-language speakers than second-language speakers. In addition, they tended to believe that native-language speakers were telling the truth. However, contrary to our hypotheses, expertise did not affect lie detection performance. Implications will be discussed.     

Probation Officers’ Perceptions of Supervising Probationers with Mental Illness in Rural and Urban Settings

As part of a larger study of probation workload and workforce challenges in one southeastern state, this study reports the results from a statewide survey of probation officers’ experiences supervising probationers with mental illness. A total of 615 officers responded to closed- and open-ended questions about the challenges and barriers to supervising offenders with mental illness, and the responses of officers from rural versus urban settings were compared. Officers reported that probationers with mental illness are difficult to supervise and supervision challenges are exacerbated by a scarcity of mental health and substance abuse treatment resources, limited social support, and a lack of employment opportunities for this population of probationers. Officers report unique and similar challenges across rural and urban settings. This study contributes to our understanding of the challenges of supervising probationers with mental illness and informs practice, policy and research at the interface of the criminal justice and mental health systems.     

Should Police Identities Be Disclosed in Anti-riot Operations Transpiring in Cyprus? A Juxtaposition of Novice and Senior Police Constables’ Perceptions

European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research - The article sets out to examine the stances of novice and senior Cypriot law enforcers towards the disclosure of their identities in anti-riot...     

The Influence of Violent Victimisation on Police Officers’ Organisational Commitment

Previous research found job stressors and social resources to be consistent predictors of organisational commitment across occupations. Surprisingly, to date, stressors that are rather specific to police officers’ jobs have rarely been explored in this context. The present study addresses this topic by investigating the influence of directly experienced civilian-related violence on organisational commitment in police staff. As social resources are considered to buffer the negative effects of job stressors on organisational commitment, such an effect was also expected regarding violent victimisation. Additionally, the study raised the question of whether the same influence factors of organisational commitment can be found for male and female police officers. Data were collected from 1,931 German patrol police officers. Results indicated a decrease of organisational commitment following experiences of violent victimisation during the last 12 months. In line with expectations social resources (group cohesiveness, immediate supervisor support) were shown to have a commitment-enhancing effect with group cohesiveness also buffering experiences of violent victimisation. Additionally, evidence yielded that social support from immediate supervisors mediates the relationship between organisational stressors and organisational commitment. In case of gender-specific influence factors no significant differences could be found.     

Jail Officers’ Perceptions of the Work Environment in Traditional Versus New Generation Facilities

New Generation jails have emerged as an important innovation in local incarceration. The results of existing research suggest that new generation jail design and operation can positively impact inmates and staff, but the literature is far from unequivocal. The current study utilized data collected from a single jail complex to provide a unique test of how the type of facility influences jail staff perceptions of the work environment along several dimensions. Our results revealed few differences between correctional officers working in traditional units and those posted in new generation units. We discuss the implications of these findings, including the use of direct supervision inmate management in traditional as well as new generation jails.     

The Influence of Victim Vulnerability and Gender on Police Officers’ Assessment of Intimate Partner Violence Risk

This study investigated the influence of victim vulnerability factors and gender on risk assessment for intimate partner violence (IPV). 867 cases of male and female perpetrated IPV investigated by Swedish police officers using the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) were examined. For male-to-female IPV, victim vulnerability factors were associated with summary risk judgments and risk management recommendations. For female-to-male IPV, vulnerability factors were more often omitted, and consistent associations were not found between vulnerability factors, summary risk judgments, and risk management. Results indicate that B-SAFER victim vulnerability factors can assist in assessing male-to-female IPV risk. Further research is necessary to examine the use of B-SAFER victim vulnerability factors for female-to-male IPV, as results showed victim vulnerability factors to be less relevant to officers’ decision making, particularly their management recommendations. However, several variables external to the B-SAFER, such as the availability of management strategies may account for these findings.     

Who ‘Owns’ the Streets? Ritual Performances of Respect and Authority in Interactions Between Young Men and Police Officers

Joining insights from the work of Richard Sennett and Erving Goffman, I probe the power relations which underlie the performances and negotiations of respect and authority in interactions between young men and police officers. Two cultures or codes of conduct most often clash in these confrontations, which interestingly enough bear some key similarities. The officers from the local police office that I observed attempted to avoid unnecessarily engaging youths in confrontations and thereby evaded contests of face. Their assignment in the field was to make their presence felt in the area they were patrolling and to bring the youth to an understanding that they were sharing this territory with them. The officers from the ‘street peace group’ had a different agenda and sought out confrontations with youths and thereby engaged them in public show‐downs over face. Their assignment in the field was to bring respect among the youth for the authority of the police, that is, to force a submission to their authority, and this is most readily accomplished through contests of face—contests in which they had the upper hand and through which they demonstrated time and again that they (the police authorities) controlled the streets (at least momentarily).     

Determinants of Citizens’ Perceptions of Police–Community Cooperation in India: Implications for Community Policing

In this study, we examine citizens?? perceptions of police?Ccommunity relationships in India. More specifically, in this exploratory study, we examine the extent to which factors such as general satisfaction with police services, police professionalism, feeling of safety, and perception of police integrity all explain the public confidence in police?Ccitizen relationships. Those who are generally satisfied with police like to work with police and view police?Ccommunity relationships positively. Further, we find that those who feel police are fair in dealing with citizens, irrespective of social status, and those who feel more safe in their communities are those who are most willing to work with police.     

Swedish Police Officers’ Job Strain,Work-Related Social Support and General Mental Health

This study investigated the association between psychosocial job characteristics and general mental health among police officers and the extent to which social support at work plays a role in this association. The findings are based on a cross-sectional survey. A written questionnaire was assessed by 714 police officers volunteered to participate in the study. The participants completed a series of validated instruments assessing job demand, control and social support at work (JDCS); general mental health (GHQ); and sociodemographic characteristics. High job strain was associated with low levels of work-related social support. Moreover, poor mental health was associated with low levels of work-related social support, active work and high job strain. The joint effect of high job strain and low levels of work-related social support had a significant effect on poor mental health. Work-related social support buffered job strain to some extent. Workforce health promotion policies should attempt to reduce job strain and emphasise the importance of work-related social support. Knowledge about police officers’ general mental health and policymakers’ support for police officers may have positive effects on the performance of the police force.     

Crowd Situations and their Policing from the Perspective of Finnish Police Officers—a Case Study of Finnish Police Knowledge

This study explores crowd situations from the perspective of the Finnish police. The qualitative data consist of focused face-to-face interviews with police officers (n = 15). The results of these interviews indicate that special crowd control units have shifted from being an innovation to being an ordinary part of public order policing, despite the infrequent use of these units. Furthermore, police knowledge concurrently involved diversity and polarity. Crowd situations vary from political protests to sporting events and street festivals, and the police play multiple roles and apply diverse measures and tactics depending on the situation. Polarity is linked to the way the police perceive different crowds and crowd events as ‘easy’ and ‘ordinary’ or ‘difficult’ and ‘deviant’. Finally, tension emerges between national and global aspects within police knowledge. This tension is linked to how police perceive crowd events and public order policing in terms of the past, the present, and the future.     

Police officers’ perceptions of organizational justice and their trust in the public

Research in organizational psychology has consistently demonstrated that employee perceptions of organizational justice have significant effects on employee attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. Similar studies utilizing the organizational justice model in policing have also noted these effects, including the relationship of justice perceptions with officer attitudes toward the public. Recent theoretical developments in policing contend that the association between internal perceptions of justice and external attitudes may be the result of organizational and supervisory practices that ‘trickle-down’ into the police-community relationship. This paper explores this association by assessing the effects of officer perceptions of organizational justice on officer trust in the public. A sample of patrol division police officers were surveyed using measures taken from the organizational justice literature and Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman’s model of organizational trust. Results show a strong relationship between perceptions of organizational justice and trust in the public even when other relevant predictors are controlled.     

Behind the Blue Line: Investigating Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

The current study contributes to what is known about police officers’ attitudes toward rape. A survey was administered to 891 sworn police officers in two states in the southeastern United States. The surveys were designed to assess police officers’ acceptance of rape myths. It was hypothesized that police officers would be accepting of rape myths, which are inherently misogynistic. Attitudes toward rape were expected to vary according to educational attainment and experience with rape investigations, such that higher levels of education and more experience with rape investigations would lead to the rejection of rape myths. There was a significant difference in the acceptance of rape myths with varying levels of educational attainment and experience with rape investigations.