The problem of entanglement: Biases and fallacies in police conflict management

Cognitive biases have been identified as drivers of the excessive use of force, which has determined current affairs across the globe. In this article, we argue that the police are facing serious challenges in combating these biases. These challenges stem from the nature of cognitive biases, their sources and the fallacies that mislead police professionals in the way they think about them. Based on a framework of expert decision-making fallacies and biases, we argue that these fallacies limit the impact of efforts to mitigate cognitive biases in police conflict management. In order to achieve a systemic understanding of cognitive biases and their detrimental effects, the article concludes that implementing reflexive structures within the police is a crucial prerequisite to effectively reflect on external influences and to limit bias and fallacies from further unfolding in a self-referential loop.

Implementation of the proportionality test during the search process and the collection of evidence

As a means of collecting materials, the search and seizure of objects and documents is of undeniable importance in criminal evidence, providing valuable data that serve to establish the existence or non-existence of the crime, to identify the perpetrator, to establish guilt and other circumstances essential to the just settlement of the case. The present study, in the light of the proportionality test, reflects on the application of several evidentiary procedures, based on multiple criteria, in particular, the assessment of the reasonable doubt, the proportionality between the evidentiary procedure used and the degree of the incriminated deed; the relevance of the materials collected as a result of the evidentiary procedure and the excessive use of force, in carrying out the search.

Framing, Suppression, and Colonial Policing Redux in Canada: News Representations of the 2019 Wet’suwet’en Blockade

In early 2019, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) intervened at the Gidimt’en Access Checkpoint in northern British Columbia (BC) and arrested 14 land defenders, garnering global media attention. To explore the ways that settler common sense ( Rifkin 2013 ) is assembled and perpetuated in Canada, this paper examines how Wet’suwet’en mobilization is framed in news media coverage. Situating our work in relation to settler colonial studies and informed by the writings of Indigenous scholars, we use critical discourse analysis to assess mainstream news media framings of the Wet’suwet’en struggle. Drawing from literature on social movement suppression, we discern three main themes in these texts that work to validate the RCMP’s excessive use of force against land defenders and delegitimize the Wet’suwet’en’s claim to sovereignty. While this framing set the stage for sustained corporate incursions, police surveillance, and occupation across unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, we suggest negative framing as well as activist use of social media to visualize state repression may have created the conditions for what Hess and Martin (2006) call backfire.

A Case Study of Non-Violent Property Crime Victimisation in a South African Urban Residential Neighbourhood: Exploring the Excessive Use of Force and Destruction Caused by Burglars to Gain Entry to Victims' Properties

Commentators frequently report on the high prevalence of violent crime in South Africa and often label the country as one of the most violent in the world, with a subculture of violence and criminality. This paper focuses on a different perspective, reporting on the excessive use of force and destruction caused by offenders in South Africa to gain entry to victims' properties in the execution of non-violent property crimes, in a particular residential burglary. Literature on property crimes has been considering the aggravating circumstances of violent property crimes. However, the use of excessive force and destruction caused by burglars to gain access to victims' properties in the execution of residential burglary remains relatively untested in the literature. In this light, the purpose of this study is to describe the unprecedented levels of force used and destruction caused by burglars to gain access to victims' properties during residential burglary victimisation in an urban residential neighbourhood in Johannesburg, South Africa. A qualitative research approach is followed. A case study design was used to select an urban residential neighbourhood in Johannesburg as a case study. A data set of (n = 1 431) crimes were purposively selected by means of non-probability sampling. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. This paper offers valuable insight into the forceful and destructive conduct of burglars in the selected neighbourhood and contributes to the body of knowledge by providing an improved understanding of target hardening as a preventive measure against residential burglary victimisation as well as on methods of entry used by burglars in incidents of residential burglary. The results of reported non-violent property crime victimisation incidences by this community's neighbourhood watch scheme suggest that residential burglars in the selected neighbourhood are uncharacteristically forceful and ravage in their actions since they frequently revert to extreme use of force and destruction, disproportionate to the crime perpetrated. It is concluded that this radical degree of force used and destruction caused by residential burglars to gain entry to victims' properties in the execution of non-violent property crimes is not typically associated with residential burglary as compared to countries internationally.

Moving the needle: can training alter officer perceptions and use of de-escalation?

PurposeDe-escalation training for police has received widespread attention as a method for reducing unnecessary and excessive use of force. There is virtually no research on de-escalation, and as a result, there is little understanding about what it is, what it includes and whether it is effective. The current study compares attitudes about the importance and use of de-escalation among officers who were randomly assigned to participate (or not) in de-escalation training.Design/methodology/approachThe current study draws from a larger randomized controlled trial of de-escalation training in the Tempe, Arizona Police Department (TPD). Approximately 100 officers completed a survey in June–July 2019 and again in June–July 2020. TPD delivered the de-escalation training to half the patrol force in February–March 2020. The authors compare treatment and control officers' attitudes about the importance of specific de-escalation tactics, how often they use those tactics and their sentiments de-escalation training. The authors employ an econometric random-effects model to examine between-group differences post-training while controlling for relevant officer attributes including age, race, sex, prior training and squad-level pretraining attitudes about de-escalation.FindingsTreatment and control officers reported positive perceptions of de-escalation tactics, frequent use of those tactics and favorable attitudes toward de-escalation before and after the training. After receiving the training, treatment officers placed greater importance on compromise, and reported more frequent use of several important tactics including compromise, knowing when to walk away and maintaining officer safety.Originality/valueOnly a few prior studies have has examined whether de-escalation training changes officer attitudes. The results from the current study represent an initial piece of evidence suggesting de-escalation training may lead to greater use of those tactics by officers during encounters with citizens.

Activate Compliance: A Multilevel Study of Factors Associated With Activation of Body-Worn Cameras

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have quickly become popular tools in law enforcement. In theory, BWCs have the capacity to record all the time. However, due to privacy, legal, and practical concerns, cameras must be activated by officers in most jurisdictions. Early comments have raised concerns that officers would not activate their cameras in situations where there was a possibility that an intervention would not “look good” or when a situation might involve unnecessary or excessive use of force—posing a clear threat to transparency. The current study aims (1) to examine activation trends during a 10-month pilot to better understand officers’ compliance with departmental policies over time and (2) to identify situational and individual factors related to activation in situations where, based on a detailed policy, cameras should have been activated. Using generalized linear mixed models, camera activation was found to be significantly related to the nature of police–civilian encounters and officers’ personal characteristics such as experience and gender. Because suspicions of voluntary nonactivation in controversial situations can greatly affect police–citizen relations, this article concludes on a discussion of automatic activation.

Safeguarding the Republic? The South African Police Service, Legitimacy and the Tribulations of Policing a Violent Democracy

Since 1994 the South African Police Service (SAPS) has undertaken various efforts to build legitimacy in South Africa. Extensive community policing resources have been made available, and a hybrid community-oriented programme (sector policing) has been pursued. Nevertheless, public opinion data has shown that there are low levels of public trust in the police. Using Goldsmith’s framework of trust-diminishing police behaviours, this article suggests that indifference, a lack of professionalism, incompetence and corruption on the part of the police, particularly in high-crime areas, have eroded public trust in the SAPS. Furthermore, in an effort to maintain order, reduce crime and assert the authority of the state, the police have adopted militaristic strategies and practices, which have contributed to numerous cases of excessive use of force, which has consequently weakened police legitimacy in South Africa

Police violence as punishment: Does excessive use of force serve to punish those who threaten status and power hierarchies in society?

ObjectivesWhy do some people view excessive police violence as acceptable? We reason that excessive police violence not only seeks to control crime, but also to punish criminal offenders. We propose the concept of police violence for punishment and explore its associations with different forms of punishment and punishment motivations. We reason that some people support excessive police violence to reinforce status and power hierarchies with minority groups. MethodWe draw on data from a representative sample of adults living in Chile conducted in 2015 (n=1,302). We use structural equation models to predict support for police violence for punishment, legal and extra-legal violence.ResultsPolice violence for punishment was strongly related to support for extra-legal punishment. Punitive police violence and extra-legal punishment were both predicted by the motivation to restore status and power relationships, followed by deterrence. In contrast, norm restoration was the main predictor of legal punishment. Police violence for punishment was significantly less supported by ethnic minority members. ConclusionsWe conclude that police excessive use of force can usefully be understood as police violence as punishment. We discuss the extent to which police repression is perceived to restore status and power hierarchies threatened by crime. We conclude that reducing police violence requires a political and cultural process well beyond reforming police protocols and procedures. Working towards more horizontal relations between police officers, citizens and minority groups should reduce perceived needs to restore power and status relationships, hereby reducing support for police violence as punishment.

The Production and Use of the Film It Stays With You: Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers in Haiti to Challenge the Exclusion of Survivors’ Experiences from Peacekeeping Success Stories

During its operations against gangs in the period 2004–2007 the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) killed and injured many people who were not posing a threat to anyone and were not involved in criminal activity. In Operations Iron Fist (2005) and New Forest (2006) an estimated 60 people were killed, some by bullets fired from helicopters penetrating the roofs of their corrugated metal shacks. Survivors claim that no one from the UN or from any state agency has ever visited their neighbourhood to speak to them—‘it’s as though you’re worthless’. This article discusses the making of the film It Stays With You: Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers in Haiti—which was produced using participatory practices—and the project team’s use of the film to raise awareness of the need for reform of UN rules of engagement and for an investigation into excessive use of force by MINUSTAH. The article also discusses the use of the film to challenge the exclusion from the MINUSTAH success narrative of the stories of the people who live in the targeted community, and to provide a platform that might enable the experiences of survivors to be publicly acknowledged internationally. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, It Stays With You forms part of an interdisciplinary law and film studies research project, which explores the role of film as a method of addressing trauma and as a means of highlighting the need for a human rights-oriented approach to accountability in the conduct of UN law enforcement operations.