Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Experimental Look At Reasonable Suspicion And Police Discretion, Kyle Mclean, Justin Nix, Seth W. Stoughton, Ian T. Adams, Geoffrey P. Alpert

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

This study aims to demonstrate the need for further examination of legal judgments and the exercise of discretion in policing.

Design/methodology/approach

A factorial vignette survey with traffic stop scenarios based on US Court of Appeals decisions was administered to 396 police officers across six states. Officers were asked to indicate their assessment of the presence of reasonable suspicion and the likelihood that they would extend the stop for investigatory purposes.

Findings

Officers' reasonable suspicion judgments are significantly influenced by the vignette facts and align with court ruling expectations. However, even in the presence of reasonable suspicion, responses indicate a …

A National Analysis Of Trauma Care Proximity And Firearm Assault Survival Among U.S. Police, Michael Sierra-Arevalo, Justin Nix, Bradley O'Guinn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Past research on factors influencing firearm assault (FA) mortality have not focused on police officers who, compared to other U.S. workers and the general public, experience especially high rates of firearm victimization. This study focuses on this unique population of FA victims and examines the relationship between travel time to the nearest trauma care facility and the probability of survival among officers shot on duty. Combining data on trauma care center location and 7 years of data on U.S. police officers fatally or non-fatally assaulted with a firearm, we use logistic regression to model the probability of FA fatality among …

How Did You Become A Police Officer? Entry-Related Motives And Concerns Of Women And Men In Policing, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Starr J. Solomon, Rachael M. Rief

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

As police agencies in the United States suffer declining applications and struggle to recruit women, the National Institute of Justice has identified workforce development as a priority research area. To recruit more effectively, we must understand what attracts people to policing and what deters them. We surveyed officers in two Midwestern police departments (n = 832) about entry motivations and concerns and examined gender differences. Serve/protect motivations were most important for men and women, though women rated the category significantly higher. Women and non-White officers rated legacy motives higher than did males and White officers. Women reported more concerns overall …

Why Did You Become A Police Officer? Entry-Related Motives And Concerns Of Women And Men In Policing, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Starr Solomon, Rachael Rief

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

As police agencies in the United States suffer declining applications and struggle to recruit women, the National Institute of Justice has identified workforce development as a priority research area. To recruit more effectively, we must understand what attracts people to policing and what deters them. We surveyed officers in two Midwestern police departments (n = 832) about entry motivations and concerns and examined gender differences. Serve/protect motivations were most important for men and women, though women rated the category significantly higher. Women and non-White officers rated legacy motives higher than did males and White officers. Women reported more concerns …

Mandatory Sexual Assault Kit Testing Policies And Arrest Trends: A Natural Experiment, Scott M. Mourtgos, Ian T. Adams, Justin Nix, Tara N. Richards

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The present study employs a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effects of a mandatory sexual assault kit (SAK) testing policy on rape arrests in a large western US jurisdiction. We use a Bayesian structural time-series model and monthly data on arrests for rape from 2010 through 2019. In the post-implementation period, we observed a downward trend in the arrest rate for rape. Based on the results, the most conservative interpretation of our findings is that the policy implementation did not affect rape arrest rates. While mandatory SAK testing policies are often advocated for based on the belief that they will …

Police Killings Of Unarmed Black Americans: A Reassessment Of Community Mental Health Spillover Effects, Justin Nix, M. James Lozada

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

We reevaluate the claim from Bor et al. (2018) that “police killings of unarmed black Americans have effects on mental health among black American adults in the general population” (p. 302). The Mapping Police Violence data used by the authors includes 91 incidents involving black decedents who were either (1) not killed by police officers in the line of duty or (2) armed when killed. These incidents should have been removed or recoded prior to analysis. Correctly recoding these incidents decreased in magnitude all of the reported coefficients, and, more importantly, eliminated the reported statistically significant effect of exposure to …

The Immediate And Long-Term Effects Of Covid-19 Stay-At-Home Orders On Domestic Violence Calls For Service Across Six U.S. Jurisdictions, Justin Nix, Tara N. Richards

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

We assessed immediate and long-term trends in calls for police service regarding domestic violence following COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Using open data from the Police Data Initiative, we performed interrupted time-series analyses of weekly calls for service for domestic violence in New Orleans (LA), Cincinnati (OH), Seattle (WA), Salt Lake City (UT), Montgomery County (MD), and Phoenix (AZ). Results indicate that five of the six jurisdictions experienced an immediate, significant spike in domestic violence calls for service (Cincinnati being the lone exception). As stay-at-home orders were lifted throughout the remainder of 2020, domestic violence calls for service declined in every jurisdiction …

What Does The Public Want Police To Do During Pandemics? A National Experiment, Justin Nix, Stefan Ivanov, Justin T. Pickett

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

We administered a survey experiment to a national sample of 1,068 US adults in April 2020 to determine the factors that shape support for various policing tactics in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents were sharply divided in their views about pandemic policing tactics, and were least supportive of policies that might limit public access to officers or reduce crime deterrence. Information about the health risks to officers, but not to inmates, significantly increased support for “precautionary” policing, but not for “social distance” policing. The information effect was modest, but may be larger if the information came from official …

Comparing 911 And Emergency Hotline Calls For Domestic Violence In Seven Cities: What Happened When People Started Staying Home Due To Covid-19?, Tara N. Richards, Justin Nix, Scott Mourtgos, Ian Adams

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

We examine changes in help-seeking for domestic violence (DV) in seven U.S. cities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Bayesian structural time-series modeling with daily data to construct a synthetic counterfactual, we test whether calls to police and/or emergency hotlines varied in 2020 as people stayed home due to COVID-19. Across this sample, we estimate there were approximately 1,030 more calls to police and 1,671 more calls to emergency hotlines than would have occurred absent the pandemic.Inter-agency data analysis holds great promise for better understanding localized trends in DV in real time. Research-practitioner partnerships can help DV coordinated community response teams …

Who Dreams Of Badges? Gendered Self-Concept And Policing Career Aspirations, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Starr J. Solomon, Rachael M. Rief

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

NIJ’s Policing Research Plan (2017-2022) highlights the need to understand factors that attract diverse candidates. We explored whether college students had ever considered policing and found men were significantly more likely than women to contemplate policing careers. Further, we found higher levels of masculinity were associated with greater odds of policing aspirations; the relationship between gender and aspirations was fully mediated by masculine self-concept. Although men typically reported higher masculinity scores, within-gender analyses indicated that masculinity was important for both men and women. Our findings suggest the continued association of masculinity with policing may undercut efforts to recruit a representative …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of The Impact Of Body-Worn Camera Activation On The Outcomes Of Individual Incidents, Jessica Huff, Charles M. Katz, E. C. Hedberg

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Objectives

Evaluate the impact of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on officer-initiated activity, arrests, use of force, and complaints.

Methods

We use instrumental variable analysis to examine the impact of BWC assignment and BWC activation on the outcomes of individual incidents through a randomized controlled trial of 436 officers in the Phoenix Police Department.

Results

Incidents involving BWC activations were associated with a lower likelihood of officer-initiated contacts and complaints, but a greater likelihood of arrests and use of force. BWC assignment alone was unrelated to arrests or complaints; however, incidents involving officers who were assigned and activated their BWC were significantly …

Gun Victimization In The Line Of Duty: Fatal And Non-Fatal Firearm Assaults On Police Officers In The United States, 2014-2019, Michael Sierra-Arévalo, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Research Summary

Using open‐source data from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), we analyze national‐ and state‐level trends in fatal and nonfatal firearm assaults of U.S. police officers from 2014 to 2019 (N = 1,467). Results show that (a) most firearm assaults are nonfatal, (b) there is no compelling evidence that the national rate of firearm assault on police has substantially increased during the last 6 years, and (c) there is substantial state‐level variation in rates of firearm assault on police officers.

Policy Implications

GVA has decided strengths relative to existing data sources on police victimization and danger in policing. …

Exploring Gendered Environments In Policing: Workplace Incivilities And Fit Perceptions In Men And Women Officers, Rachael Rief, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Research indicates that women are still underrepresented in policing and that police culture is not fully accepting of its sisters in blue. As police organizations strive toward building an inclusive workforce, we must understand how women, already in the field, view their place and experiences within their jobs, organizations, and workgroups. Thus, in the current research, we use a comparative sample (n¼832) of male and female officers to examine perceptions of fit in the job, organization, and workgroup, and how these perceptions relate to reports of workplace incivilities. Findings indicate that women "fit in" with the job and the broader …

Testing A Theoretical Model Of Perceived Audience Legitimacy: The Neglected Linkage In The Dialogic Model Of Police–Community Relations, Justin Nix, Justin T. Pickett, Scott E. Wolfe

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

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 …

Demeanor And Police Culture: Theorizing How Civilian Cooperation Influences Police Officers, Justin T. Pickett, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to revisit classic theoretical arguments regarding the broad effects of civilian demeanor on policing and extend associated findings.

Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework draws on insights from the literatures on police culture, the group engagement model and fairness heuristic theory. The authors argue that demeanor is best conceptualized as the degree of procedural justice exhibited by civilians toward police. Theoretically, procedurally just cooperation should influence officers’ adherence to police culture by affecting their social identification and assessments of civilians’ motives and moral deservingness. To test the hypotheses, the authors surveyed sworn officers from a …

Compliance, Noncompliance, And The In-Between: Causal Effects Of Civilian Demeanor On Police Officers’ Cognitions And Emotions, Justin Nix, Justin T. Pickett, Renée J. Mitchell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Objectives
Police legitimacy can hinge on what happens in police–civilian encounters, yet much remains unknown about the socio-psychological processes involved in these bilateral interactions, especially those affecting officers. We integrate insights from policing research with theories and findings from scholarship on moral psychology, interpersonal strain, and victimization fear to develop hypotheses about the situational effects of civilian demeanor on officers’ cognitions (suspicion and perceived danger) and emotions (anger, frustration, annoyance, and fear).

Methods
We administered a series of three randomized vignettes involving routine police–civilian encounters to 546 officers working in a large city in the southwestern United States. We randomized …

Not “That Kind Of Cop”: Exploring How Officers Adapt Approaches, Attitudes, And Self-Concepts In School Settings, Trisha N. Rhodes, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Prior research indicates school resource officers (SROs) perform an array of nontraditional police tasks and work in settings culturally distinct from street patrols. To thrive in SRO programs, police must adapt to these new roles and settings, likely affecting how they view themselves and their work. The present study examined how SROs view and respond to their work in schools through interviews and observations of 20 participants in four states. Findings revealed participants adopted policing strategies that facilitated communication and rapport. They generally viewed citizens positively and felt being an SRO made their work meaningful. Participants further described identities at …

Disparity Does Not Mean Bias: Making Sense Of Observed Racial Disparities In Fatal Officer-Involved Shootings With Multiple Benchmarks, Brandon Tregle, Justin Nix, Geoffrey P. Alpert

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Racial disparities in officer-involved shootings have dominated the national discourse recently. Unfortunately, we have yet to identify an appropriate benchmark, or at-risk population, to put these observed racial disparities into context. In this article, we use seven benchmarks—based on population data from the US Census, police-citizen interaction data from the Police-Public Contact Survey, and arrest data from the Uniform Crime Report—to compare OIS fatality rates for black and white citizens from 2015 to 2017. Using population, police-citizen interactions, or total arrests as a benchmark, we observe that black citizens appear more likely than white citizens to be fatally shot by …

Examining The Association Between Massage Parlors And Neighborhood Crime, Jessica Huff, Danielle Wallace, Courtney Riggs, Charles M. Katz, David Choate

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Although massage parlors have been associated with illicit activities including prostitution, less is known about their association with neighborhood crime. Employing the Computer Automated Dispatch/Record Management System (CAD/RMS), online user review, licensing, Census, and zoning data, we examine the impact of massage parlors on crime in their surrounding neighborhoods. Using spatial autoregressive models, our results indicate the total number of massage parlors was associated with increased social disorder. The presence of illicit massage parlors in adjacent neighborhoods was associated with crime and physical disorder in the focal neighborhoods. This study has consequences for how police address crime associated with massage …

Understanding Police Officer Resistance To Body-Worn Cameras, Jessica Huff, Charles M. Katz, Vincent J. Webb

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been adopted in police agencies across the USA in efforts to increase police transparency and accountability. This widespread implementation has occurred despite some notable resistance to BWCs from police officers in some jurisdictions. This resistance poses a threat to the appropriate implementation of this technology and adherence to BWC policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that could explain variation in officer receptivity to BWCs.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors assess differences between officers who volunteered to wear a BWC and officers who resisted wearing a BWC as part of a larger randomized controlled …

Testing A Social Schematic Model Of Police Procedural Justice, Justin T. Pickett, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Procedural justice theory increasingly guides policing reforms in the United States and abroad. Yet the primary sources of perceived police procedural justice are still unclear. Building on social schema research, we posit civilians’ perceptions of police procedural justice only partly reflect their personal and vicarious experiences with officers. We theorize perceptions of the police are anchored in a broader “relational justice schema,” composed of views about how respectful, fair, and unbiased most people are in their dealings with others. Individuals’ experiences with certain nonlegal actors and neighborhood environments should directly affect their relational justice schema and indirectly affect their evaluation …

Patriarchy And The Structure Of Employment In Criminal Justice: Differences In The Experiences Of Men And Women Working In The Legal Profession, Corrections, And Law Enforcement, Candice Batton, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Feminist scholars have long argued that patriarchy affects the structure and organization of society as well as the lived experiences of men and women. Although often referenced in discussions of gender differences in crime and justice, few have articulated more specifically the link between patriarchy and gender differences in the experiences of men and women as victims, offenders, or workers. We take up the challenge to theorize patriarchy and examine the extent to which it operates as an organizing principle with regard to employment in the criminal justice system. We consider differences in the representation of men and women working …

Management-Level Officers’ Experiences With The Ferguson Effect, Justin Nix, Scott E. Wolfe

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors associated with management-level officers’ sensitivity to various manifestations of the “Ferguson effect.”

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was administered to police officers attending an advanced training institute in the Southeastern USA in the fall of 2015. Specifically, a series of items first inquired about negative attitudes attributable to deadly force incidents throughout the country, followed by items tapping into theoretically relevant concepts including self-legitimacy, audience legitimacy, and peer attachment.

Findings

Findings suggest that like line-level officers, police managers may also harbor various attitudes attributable to a Ferguson effect – including less …

Police Research, Officer Surveys, And Response Rates, Justin Nix, Justin T. Pickett, Hyunin Baek, Geoffrey P. Alpert

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In recent years, policing scholars have increasingly used survey methods to gain insight into officers’ attitudes and behaviours. Yet, surprisingly, methodological research analysing surveys of police officers is rare. We analysed the extent and correlates of response rates in police surveys, providing insights about the survey design features and study characteristics associated with higher rates of officer participation. We examined the response rates to 497 police surveys reported in 390 articles published in 15 journals from 2008 to 2017. Findings included the following: (1) the average response rate was 64%, but there was a great deal of variation, (2) in-person …

Command-Level Police Officers’ Perceptions Of The “War On Cops” And De-Policing, Justin Nix, Scott E. Wolfe, Bradley A. Campbell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

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 …

Demeanor, Race, And Police Perceptions Of Procedural Justice: Evidence From Two Randomized Experiments, Justin Nix, Justin T. Pickett, Scott E. Wolfe, Bradley A. Campbell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing recently endorsed procedural justice as a way to restore trust between police and communities. Yet police–citizen interactions vary immensely, and research has yet to give sufficient consideration to the factors that might affect the importance officers place on exercising procedural justice during interactions. Building on research examining “moral worthiness” judgments and racial stereotyping among police officers, we conducted two randomized experiments to test whether suspect race and demeanor affect officers’ perceptions of the threat of violence and importance of exercising procedural justice while interacting with suspicious persons. We find that suspect race …

Sensitivity To The Ferguson Effect: The Role Of Managerial Organizational Justice, Justin Nix, Scott E. Wolfe

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

We argue that the police have been adversely impacted by Ferguson-related negative publicity in ways beyond the supposed increase in crime (e.g., reduced motivation and increased perception of danger). Further, we suggest that organizational justice is a key factor that influences officers' sensitivity to such Ferguson Effects.

Methods

We used a sample of 510 sheriff's deputies surveyed 6 months after the incident in Ferguson. We explored whether organizational justice is associated with deputies' sensitivity to several manifestations of the Ferguson Effect using OLS and ordered logistic regression models.

Results

The results demonstrated that deputies who believed their supervisors were …

Police Perceptions Of Their External Legitimacy In High And Low Crime Areas Of The Community, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Until recently, police legitimacy research has primarily focused on citizen perceptions of the police. However, it may be that the police believe citizens associate other factors, such as distributive justice or performance, with legitimacy. The present study adds to the literature by surveying a nationally representative sample of U.S. police officers about how they believe citizens residing in high and low crime areas of the community evaluate police in terms of legitimacy. Findings suggest that respondents believe procedural justice and distributive justice are important to citizens of both areas in terms of generating trust. At the same time, respondents believe …

Predictors Of Texas Police Chiefs’ Satisfaction With Police-Prosecutor Relationships, Brenda I. Rowe

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Although strain in police-prosecutor relationships may be built into the criminal justice system’s checks and balances, the administration of criminal justice can benefit from the adoption of practices which improve these working relationships. A first step towards the adoption of such practices can be taken by first adding to the knowledge base regarding this understudied topic. Using a survey of a state-wide sample of Texas police chiefs, this exploratory study identifies which aspects of police-prosecutor interaction styles are predictors of police chiefs’ satisfaction with police-prosecutor relationships. Results indicate that perceived level of police input in prosecutors’ plea bargain and charging …