'Black like Me': A Critical Analysis of Arrest Practices Based on Skin Color in the Gauteng Province, South Africa

Objective: This article looks at the everyday life and realities of current practices employed by the South African Police Service (SAPS) officials, by shedding light on the experiences and practices on profiling search and effecting arrest based on race and skin color in the Gauteng Province. Particularly, this article examines the experiences of the SAPS officials to measure police perception of the skin color of foreign nationals, and to establish if wrongful arrests were linked to skin color stereotyping. Methods: The theoretical approach employed the social identity theory (SIT) was used to interpret the results. A survey questionnaire consisting of the New Immigration Survey (NIS) Skin Color Scale with 10 shades of skin color mapped to a pictorial guide, as well as a self-report measure on wrongful arrests, was administered to 80 SAPS officials, who performed visible policing duties. The research sample consisted of two SAPS groups from two different contexts, namely township and urban contexts. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to conduct Pearson's correlation and comparative analyses. Results: The results showed that the SAPS officials stereotyped foreign nationals as dark-skinned. The skin color stereotype was, however, not correlated to wrongful arrests. The study concluded that although respondents perceived that South Africans were distinguishable from foreign nationals based on skin color or tone, identification processes were not influenced by this stereotype belief.

Representation of Negative Stereotypes of Police Perception

The paper discusses the problem of negative atti-tude towards the police in Russian society. The question of the social significance of trust in law enforcement agencies is investigated. Modern trends of violation of trust in law enforcement agen-cies in Russian society are considered. It is proved that in conditions of distrust of the police, it is prob-lematic to achieve a high efficiency of law enforce-ment. In the analysis the reasons for distrust of the police in the civilian environment, it is proved that the representation of negative stereotypes of the perception of police officers is of paramount im-portance. The specifics of negative stereotypes re-lated to law enforcement agencies are investigated. Mechanisms of their dissemination in the civil envi-ronment are analyzed. The high importance of mod-ern media in spreading negative stereotypes of po-lice perception is proved.

Police perception of citizens and its impact on police effectiveness and behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the similarities and differences in police officers’ attitudes toward citizens between China and Ghana, and explore the extent to which officers’ perceptions of citizens influence their effectiveness and behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 271 Chinese police officers were surveyed representing those attending in-service training program at a national police university in China in 2014, and a random sample of 145 Ghanaian police officers was surveyed in 2013, representing those from five police districts in the Accra region of Ghana Police service.FindingsResults revealed significant perceptual variations across the two countries. While Ghanaian officers were found to have more favorable perceptions of citizens’ cooperation and recognition, Chinese officers reported greater levels of citizens’ compliance and disrespectfulness. Moreover, results indicated significant relationships between officers’ attitudes and their sense of effectiveness and behavior in the two countries.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on a convenient sample of Chinese police officers, which restricts the generalizability of the results.Practical implicationsFindings offer insights for police administrators to reform the police with a focus on improving police perceptions of citizens.Originality/valueAlthough there are a few comparative studies that compare police attitudes toward citizens between developing and developed countries, and between western democracies, there is a profound lack of studies comparing these attitudes between developing/transitional countries. This study is an initial attempt to identify variations in officers’ perceptions of the public between two developing/transitional countries.