Armed,but too dangerous? Factors associated with citizen support for the militarization of the police

Images of police officers riding in armored vehicles and carrying military-grade weapons have become part of the public consciousness following the events in Ferguson, Missouri and several other high-profile police–citizen encounters. Although a great deal of research has investigated how and why US citizens perceive the police in various ways, almost no empirical work has asked how citizens perceive the militarization of the police. The current study analyzes data from a survey of 1005 US citizens to identify characteristics that are related to support for the use of military weapons and vehicles by local police departments. The results indicate that several demographic factors and perceptions of crime and the police are significantly related with citizen support for the militarization of the police. The implications of this research are discussed.     

Voluntary policing in Sweden: media reports of contemporary forms of police–citizen partnerships

Many Western-style democracies have witnessed a general shift in the distribution of crime prevention responsibility, away from the state and increasingly to citizens themselves. Civil society is today more and more often called upon as an additional policing resource. This article explores the phenomenon of voluntary citizen participation in policing in Sweden, based on an analysis of 9280 news-media articles. One state-sanctioned (the Volunteers of the Police) and one autonomous civic (Missing People Sweden) initiative were examined, from their respective start until 2017, to understand the role played by police–citizen partnerships in the establishment and legitimation of voluntary policing forms in Sweden. A high degree of integration between police and volunteer work was found, enabling not only effective citizen participation, but also having an influence on police operations. The more effective and publicly visible the voluntary policing bodies were, the more pressure there was on the police to defend its legitimacy, ally itself with the volunteers and regulate the latter’s activities while holding them responsible for their actions. Arguably, however, with the police–citizen relationship being one of integration and mutual dependence, the division of labour and the accountability of both parties risk becoming blurred or even confused.     

Protecting human rights: a complex story of the democratisation of the Croatian police

This paper explores the evolution of the protection of human rights in light of democratisation of the Croatian police. The story of democratisation of the Croatian police and their protection of human rights is particularly complex because of the war and its consequences. Using the grounded theory approach, the paper builds an argument that, because of the Croatian police are a part of the society at large, the way in which the police have dealt with human rights has been heavily dependent upon the larger social, political, and economic conditions, created both by domestic and international actors. The paper traces the police adherence to the protection of human rights across three distinct time periods.     

Race,Crime, and Criminal Justice

Fifty years ago, the U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice under President Johnson did not frequently mention race and ethnicity in its discussion of and recommendations for the criminal justice system, but it did have a lot to say about race and crime. Through the use of arrest rates to measure racial differentials in criminal involvement, the Commission concluded that Blacks commit more crime as a consequence of Black people living in greater numbers in criminogenic “slum” conditions. To address racial differences, the Commission favored the Great Society programs of Johnson's War on Poverty. Contemporary criminologists continue to debate the racial distribution of crime, the causes of crimes, and the best policies to reduce crime and racial differentials. The Commission did not anticipate the current debate among scholars regarding how much racial disproportionality exists in the criminal justice system and its causes and consequences. The policies that led to mass incarceration have been significant drivers of continued criminal justice racial disparity. Those policies are inconsistent with the recommendation in The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society (1967), upending the pursuit of a more fair and just system.     

Focused Deterrence Strategies and Crime Control

Research Summary

Focused deterrence strategies are increasingly being applied to prevent and control gang and group‐involved violence, overt drug markets, and individual repeat offenders. Our updated examination of the effects of focused deterrence strategies on crime followed the systematic review protocols and conventions of the Campbell Collaboration. Twenty‐four quasi‐experimental evaluations were identified in this systematic review. The results of our meta‐analysis demonstrate that focused deterrence strategies are associated with an overall statistically significant, moderate crime reduction effect. Nevertheless, program effect sizes varied by program type and were smaller for evaluations with more rigorous research designs.

Policy Implications

The available empirical evidence suggests these strategies generate noteworthy crime reduction impacts and should be part of a broader portfolio of crime reduction strategies available to policy makers and practitioners. Investments still need to be made, however, to strengthen the overall rigor of program evaluations and improve our understanding of key program activities associated with observed crime reduction impacts.     

Policing Domestic Violence 1967–2017

The U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice under President Johnson in 1967 called for a program of research that would support evidence‐based tracking, targeting, and testing of policing domestic “disputes.” During the past 50 years, the amount of research on domestic violence has grown. The findings from targeting studies reveal a steep pyramid from many low‐harm cases at the base rising to a tiny fraction that are lethal. The findings from testing studies reveal that arrests reduce reoffending among employed persons in the short run while increasing recidivism among unemployed suspects. Arrests in one experiment increased all‐cause mortality of victims over 23 years. The findings from tracking research reveal wide variance across police agencies in implementing mandatory arrest. Since the Crime Commission, however, mandatory arrest laws were also enacted in 28 states in the 1980s, with uneven enforcement for misdemeanor domestic abuse. New research is needed to test the effectiveness of other domestic violence interventions, including restorative justice, as well as follow‐up studies of previous research sites.     

The influence of job assignment on community engagement: bicycle patrol and community-oriented policing

The purpose of this study is to compare a specialized community-oriented policing (COP) unit to a reactive unit on officer perceptions of public contact and officer perceptions of job performance. We also compare bicycle patrol officers to motor vehicle patrol officers within these units. Using a static group comparison design, questionnaires were distributed to officers within the Toronto Police Service (n = 178). Bicycle patrol is associated with more contacts with the public and higher rates of proactive policing when compared to motor vehicle patrol and bicycle officers are more likely to rate higher on several measures of crime control. Officers with a COP mandate engage with the public for a wider variety of reasons compared to those with a reactive mandate, and are more likely to rate higher on perceptions of performing job duties in a procedurally just manner. This study demonstrates the value of a specialized COP unit that includes bicycle patrol in achieving tenets of COP. It contributes to the literature on COP and the use of bicycle patrol in law enforcement by presenting the perspective of the police officer.     

Policing image-based sexual abuse: stakeholder perspectives

ABSTRACT

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) refers to the non-consensual recording, distribution, or threat of distribution, of nude or sexual images. Over the past five years, numerous jurisdictions have amended their criminal laws to respond more effectively to this growing phenomenon, yet increased criminalization has not automatically translated into increased prosecutions. Drawing on stakeholder interviews with 52 Australian legal and policy experts, domestic and sexual violence advocates, industry representatives, police, and academics, this article examines law enforcement responses to IBSA in Australia. We argue that although there is evidence to suggest IBSA is being treated more seriously by police, there are five primary barriers to responding to IBSA, including: inconsistent laws; a lack of resources; evidentiary limitations; jurisdictional boundaries; and victim-blaming or harm minimization attitudes. Suggestions are made for how to respond to these challenges to facilitate more effective policing of IBSA.     

从罪犯到地点：犯罪空间防控的兴起

街面犯罪的持续暴涨引发了各界对潜在罪犯的犯罪防控模式的反思,犯罪地理学的发展、美国地点警务的日臻成熟与上述反思一道,促成了基于城市犯罪聚集热点的空间防控的兴起。犯罪的空间防控为警务应对的改进、平安中国建设的完善及防卫空间刑事政策的发展带来了全新的尝试与改良的契机。     

Evolving issues in police and immigrants’ relation in Finland: is it towards a structural interpretation?

The relation between police and immigrants has become a topic of scholarly fields of research as immigration has increased the number of new residents and people from a variety of countries and cultures into Finland. This new phenomenon has slowly changed the country to a multicultural society, thus requiring government agencies to adapt and adjust in the ways they provide services to the citizenry. Moreover, empirical research studies on minorities’ and immigrants’ perceptions of the police posit that certain factors are responsible for minorities’ lack of trust in the police. Little attention has been given to this issue in Finland. The aim of this study is to analyse and explore as well as add to the growing scholarly research on the perception and cooperation between immigrants and the police in Finland in order to address the factors that could possibly be responsible for immigrants’ lack of trust in the police. To address these issues, the study uses the experiences of 23 out of the 65 Africans whose ages range from 28 to 50+ who have resided in the country for five or more years. The findings indicate a depth of troublesome cross-cultural understanding between the participants and the police owing to differences in the policing styles in Finland and the respondents’ countries of origin. The concept of over-policing is analysed with a view to ensure the effective protection of the human rights of the participating immigrants within the country’s criminal justice system.