Racial Threat Theory posits that punitive attitudes are produced when Whites are alarmed by large or growing Black populations. While research has identified a relationship between Black composition and support from community members for more punitive criminal justice policy, no research has examined whether racial composition influences punitive attitudes among criminal justice personnel—even though they represent a key population that can engage in discrimination. This study advances our understanding of racial threat and police force by examining the relationship between Black population and punitive use-of-force attitudes on the part of police. Using survey and census data for approximately 10,000 police officers in 97 agencies, multilevel analyses reveal that officers report more punitive attitudes in jurisdictions with larger Black populations and that this relationship is concentrated among White police officers. The results provide evidence that racial disparities in police outcomes are at least partly driven by motivational criteria (such as discrimination).
Dramatic body camera footage of a shooting ambush last month in Fargo shows the surprise nature of the chaotic attack along a busy street that left one police officer dead and others wounded, as the only officer left standing called for help and engaged the heavily armed shooter.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski on Thursday presented the July 14 video footage taken from Officer Zach Robinson’s body camera of the attack that left North Dakota’s biggest city shocked at the unusual violence.
The scenes show gunman Mohamad Barakat shooting rapid fire from a .223-caliber rifle, modified with a binary trigger, that took down three officers before a breathless Robinson stopped him after a nearly 2-minute confrontation.
The video also illustrates what authorities have said was likely part of a planned, larger attack, with an arsenal of guns and explosives found in Barakat’s vehicle…
Researchers will use artificial intelligence to analyze the tone and word choice that LAPD officers use during traffic stops, the department announced Tuesday, part of a broader study of whether police language sometimes unnecessarily escalates public encounters.
Findings from the study, conducted by researchers from USC and elsewhere, will be used to help train officers on how best to navigate encounters with the public and to “promote accountability,” said Cmdr. Marla R. Ciuffetelli of the Office of Constitutional Policing & Policy;
Machine learning, she said at a meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners, “is in its infancy, but will undoubtedly become a profound element in officer training in the future.”
Overall crime rates in Los Angeles are down from last year, and a recent surge in smash-and-grab robberies makes up little of the overall problem of retail thefts. Still, the audacious daytime incidents over the last few weeks have cast a long shadow, leaving people who shop and work at malls unsettled…
Purpose: Government repression against civilians while enforcing restrictive policies related to COVID-19 was widely reported in Africa. At the same time, many have claimed that high-speed mobile data and social media provide an accountability mechanism that may constrain police abuses. This study focused on Nigeria to examine (1) the effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on police repression and (2) whether widespread high-speed mobile data networks constrain or facilitate police repression. Design/Methodology: Using data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Database (ACLED) and the Mobile Coverage Database, and focusing on regional sub-units in Nigeria, this study used Difference-in-Differences (DID) and triple difference (DDD) estimation on a sample of 423,925 observations (local government area-days) between January 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 to estimate the causal effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and high-speed mobile data on police repression. Findings: Difference-in-Differences (DID) analyses reveal no increases in police repression during lockdown periods. However, triple difference (DDD) estimation finds that certain forms of police repression were greater during lockdown periods in areas with substantial high-speed (4G) mobile networks (a proxy indicator of rapid information dissemination and video sharing). Net 4G effects, separate from the lockdowns, were also observed. Police repression increased in areas with a widespread 4G network, even without lockdowns. Research Implications: Contrary to theoretical hypotheses derived from self-awareness theory, as well as anecdotal claims of a “viral video effect” or “Ferguson Effect” constraining police behavior, proliferation of high-speed mobile networks in Nigeria appears to facilitate, rather than constrain, police repression. Additional studies may explore through what causal mechanisms high-speed mobile network proliferation affects police repression. For instance, it is possible that high-speed mobile data and social media allow police to detect and repress citizen behaviors they disapprove of, rather than permitting citizens to correct police behaviors they disapprove of. Originality/Value: Although many studies have explored the COVID-19 pandemic and police behavior in Western countries, only a few have examined its effects in states with even more troubled policing institutions, including those in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings of increased government repression during lockdowns in areas with 4G proliferation, as well as the independent effects of 4G facilitating police repression even without lockdowns, present significant counterevidence to observations from the U.S. and elsewhere, which has suggested that the ability to rapidly and widely share videos of police misconduct via mobile devices can limit police repression. Such effects were not found in Nigeria.
Recent surveys suggest that confidence in police reached its lowest level on record in the wake of controversial police custody deaths and associated protests in recent years. Meanwhile, research has found links between perceptions of low public support for police and a variety of negative outcomes among police officers, including stress and withdrawal. The consequences of psychological stress, according to much other research, include a variety of physical health problems. The present study synthesizes these bodies of research by examining whether perceptions of low public support are associated with physical, somatic symptoms in police officers, including headaches, gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, and upper respiratory infections. Structural equation modelling of 4,221 officer surveys from a Southeastern U.S. state collected in January of 2022 suggests that officers are quite literally worried sick about poor police–public relations, and that stress mediates this relationship. We discuss the implications of these findings for officer wellness and the relationship between mental and physical wellbeing among officers. Furthermore, we discuss practical recommendations for police leaders who may be struggling to promote officer wellness during a period of intense public scrutiny.
Published in Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice
American roads have become deadlier than before the pandemic, and many are attributing this to a decrease in policing after the George Floyd protests of 2020. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the fatality rate, which is deaths per million miles traveled, is about 18% higher than in 2019. In contrast, other Western countries did not experience the same sustained increase in traffic deaths.
Jonathan Adkins, CEO of the GHSA, believes that the decrease in policing led to many people driving dangerously because they thought they could get away with it. He notes that there is not enough enforcement on the roads, and many police officers are hesitant to write tickets.
Seattle police officer Carol Cummings, who requested traffic stops data from the city, found that traffic citations by police were down about 86% compared to 2019. The Seattle Police Chief, Adrian Diaz, explains that this is due to staffing levels and call loads. His department lost hundreds of officers after the George Floyd protests of 2020, and he had to cut dedicated traffic details.
Susan Nembhard, a research associate with the Urban Institute, believes that traffic stops can be dangerous interactions, particularly for people of color and specifically Black people. She has argued for limiting those stops. As a result, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and even the state of Virginia have adopted formal policies limiting traffic stops for minor violations. Seattle has also instructed officers not to pull cars over for certain non-moving violations, such as expired license tags and obstructions hanging from the rear-view mirror.
While these new policies reduce the number of contacts between police and citizens, some believe that they have also reduced drivers’ impression that they’ll be stopped for more serious violations, such as running red lights. However, Adkins says that the Governors Highway Safety Association believes in equitable enforcement and could accept restrictions on stops for technical violations, as long as drivers are still stopped when they’re doing something dangerous. Cummings believes that many drivers follow the law because they know it makes sense, but some people drive dangerously, and without enough enforcement on the roads, they are the ones putting themselves and others at risk.
Is it possible to find a balance between reducing unnecessary traffic stops and ensuring public safety through traffic enforcement? The decrease in traffic stops for minor violations may have unintended consequences, such as drivers feeling that they can get away with more serious violations, and ultimately making the roads more dangerous. On the other hand, limiting these stops could also help reduce the number of dangerous interactions between police and citizens, particularly for people of color. Striking a balance between equitable enforcement and public safety is crucial to improving road safety in the United States.
Police departments across the United States are experiencing chronic understaffing as a result of retirements, resignations, and a reduction in hires. According to a recent PERF survey of 182 law enforcement agencies, police departments have seen 47% more resignations and 19% more retirements in 2022 than they did in 2019, despite recruiting more officers than in 2020. The resulting shortage may result in departments hiring fewer and less qualified candidates, leaving fewer officers available to respond to emergencies. External scrutiny and reputational harm to the profession have reduced the number of people willing to become police officers. Still, some experts suggest that the reduced applicant pool could have a net positive effect by restricting it to candidates who are willing to address the challenges of modern policing.
However, the shortage of officers has led to bidding wars between departments, with wealthier departments often winning out. Some police departments have changed their internal policies, while others have eliminated services, units, or positions due to the inability to staff their departments adequately. The cost of hiring qualified candidates creates a significant problem for departments with limited budgets. This situation has led to police forces becoming “second-chance departments” as they try to hire more attainable officers seeking a second chance after leaving or being fired by other departments.
Some people have suggested that solving the police staffing crisis, especially in urban areas, requires more spending. They say that increases in salaries and benefits of their officers will make the profession more attractive to qualified candidates. This could include signing bonuses, healthcare benefits, and retirement plans. They also promote Investing in education and training to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary skills to address modern policing challenges effectively. This could include training in de-escalation techniques, implicit bias, and mental health response.
But will more money make policing better? On a per-capita basis, the United States spends more money on law enforcement and criminal justice than similar Western nations. According to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States spends significantly more on law enforcement and criminal justice than other high-income countries. In 2019, the United States spent $1,345 per capita on law enforcement and criminal justice, compared to an average of $374 among OECD countries. This spending includes not only police departments but also corrections, courts, and other criminal justice services. Vastly outspending our peers, you would expect that we would have the most professional police officers and the lowest crime rates. And yet…
At the direction of the N.C. Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission and the N.C. Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission, and in a joint effort with partners at the North Carolina Justice Academy, researchers from Appalachian State University conducted a study aimed at understanding what benefit, if any, there would be to requiring ongoing, in-career fitness standards for North Carolina police and detention officers. In addition, we sought to understand the hurdles and concerns associated with requiring or implementing ongoing fitness standards. This report responds to these questions in three parts. First, we report findings about the mental and physical health of officers in North Carolina, as well as the relationship between the availability of officer fitness and the availability of fitness support and programming. Second, we assess police leader concerns about the implementation and obstacles related to ongoing fitness standards. Finally, using secondary data from a different Southeastern state, we assess the relationship between ongoing fitness standards and officer attrition.
Study 1 reveals that, overall, officers in North Carolina are in poor physical and mental health, and in many ways are in even poorer health than the general public. Furthermore, officer health affects several aspects of job performance. Mandatory in-service physical fitness evaluations are associated with improved officer health and more frequent exercise, even in the absence of formal consequences like termination.
Study 2 reveals that physical fitness standards for incumbent officers are uncommon, and the biggest concern identified by agency leaders was staffing.
Study 3 reveals that neither mandatory nor voluntary physical fitness programs are associated with significantly more attrition.
Our report culminates in four recommendations:
Require physical fitness testing throughout the career of a law enforcement officer.
Do not incrementally adjust in-service physical fitness standards based on age.
Promote physical activity among officers irrespective of in-service physical fitness standards through in-agency fitness centers and on-duty exercise.
Implement holistic employee wellness programs in law enforcement agencies.
