Assessing Public Perceptions of Police Use-of-Force: Legal Reasonableness and Community Standards

Citizens often have misconceptions about law enforcement. This misinformation may contribute to distrust and heightened concerns about force and misconduct. Agencies attempt to address this by promoting procedural justice and providing community education on police practices. Thus far, past research has not been clear on the actual utility of community education on changing public perceptions. Recent funding has allowed one department to host 14 one-day community police academies (CPAs) to educate residents about policing topics to enhance trust and improve public perceptions of the department. The current project analyzes data collected CPA events to determine the effects on citizen knowledge of police procedures and the effect of this knowledge on attitudes toward the police. Results indicate that while CPAs were effective at educating citizens about practices and improving trust in law enforcement, the increased knowledge was not associated with improvements to public trust. The knowledge obtained at the CPA was, however, predictive of lower concerns about use of force. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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Being held to account: Detainees’ perceptions of police body-worn cameras

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology ◽

10.1177/0004865818781913 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 52 (2) ◽

pp. 174-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Murray Lee ◽

Emmeline Taylor ◽

Matthew Willis

Keyword(s):

Use Of Force ◽

Video Camera ◽

Activity Increase ◽

Police Use Of Force ◽

Video Cameras ◽

Police Accountability ◽

The World ◽

Research Interviews ◽

Perceptions Of Police ◽

The Impact

Police organisations across the world are embracing body-worn video camera technology. The justification for this is to enhance public trust in police, provide transparency in policing activity, increase police accountability, reduce conflict between police and public, and to provide a police perspective of incidents and events. However, while the corpus of research into the efficacy and operational practicalities of police use of body-worn video cameras is developing, questions on some elements of their impact remain. The majority of scholarship has hitherto been evaluations focused on the impact of the cameras on police use of force and on the numbers of complaints against the police. Alternatively, this article explores body-worn video cameras from the perspective of police detainees, and specifically, detainees’ perceptions of the capacities of body-worn video cameras to deliver promised increased levels of accountability in policing. The article draws on a survey and research interviews with 907 police detainees across four Australian jurisdictions. While respondents largely support the use of body-worn video cameras they also identify a number of caveats. We conclude by suggesting that there are still impediments in body-worn video cameras to achieving the level of accountability promised by advocates and expected by the respondents.

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Perceptions of police use of force: the importance of trust

Policing An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management ◽

10.1108/pijpsm-07-2020-0111 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Arabella Kyprianides ◽

Julia A. Yesberg ◽

Jenna Milani ◽

Ben Bradford ◽

Paul Quinton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Empirical Research ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Public Attitudes ◽

Use Of Force ◽

Police Use Of Force ◽

Content Type ◽

Police Action ◽

Perceptions Of Police ◽

Acceptability Judgments

PurposeThe range of tactical force options available to police is increasing, while public debate about police use of force is never far from the headlines. This paper aims to examine what factors shape how people accept police use of force.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use two online experiments to test whether different force options affected judgments about the acceptability of police action and to explore the role of trust and legitimacy in people's judgments.FindingsThe authors found across both studies that respondents judged scenarios involving a weapon (baton, CS spray, Taser) as less acceptable compared to scenarios that did not (talking down, handcuffs), but they did not draw much distinction between the specific weapon used. In study 1, exposure to different police tactics had no effect on trust and legitimacy. In study 2, prior perceptions of trust were strong predictors of acceptability judgments.Originality/valueThere is a comparative paucity of British-based empirical research examining public attitudes toward different use of force resolutions by police. In this paper, the authors explore how use of force affects people's views of police at a time in which the nature and scope of force applications, how these are understood and indeed the basic enterprise of policing itself is being reconsidered and renegotiated.

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Community Perceptions of Police Body-Worn Cameras

Criminal Justice and Behavior ◽

10.1177/0093854816688037 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 44 (4) ◽

pp. 589-610 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Matthew S. Crow ◽

Jamie A. Snyder ◽

Vaughn J. Crichlow ◽

John Ortiz Smykla

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Use Of Force ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Community Perceptions ◽

Police Performance ◽

Community Members ◽

Future Directions ◽

Police Use Of Force ◽

Citizen Complaints ◽

Perceptions Of Police

Despite relatively little extant research, efforts to expand the use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) in policing are increasing. Although recent research suggests positive impacts of BWCs on reducing police use-of-force and citizen complaints, little is known about community members’ perceptions of BWCs. The current study examined perceptions of residents of two Florida counties and found a large majority of respondents supported the use of BWCs. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine factors that influence views of BWCs. Findings indicate that positive perceptions of police performance and more police interaction were associated with greater perceived benefits of BWCs, whereas concerns about the privacy reduced perceived BWC benefits. Respondents’ views of procedural fairness and crime concern were indirectly related to perceptions BWC benefits. Non-White and younger respondents were indirectly less likely to perceive benefits. Implications of these findings and future directions for research are discussed.

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