Military experience among police officers: an examination of veterans' attitudes toward the community

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to determine whether prior military service impacts police officers' job-related attitudes.Design/methodology/approachA survey was administered to sworn police officers in a large urban department.FindingsFindings indicate that military service has almost no impact on police officers' perceptions of danger in the community and suspicion toward citizens. The small effect that did surface suggests that military veterans perceive less danger in the occupational environment.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the scant existing research on whether and how military service may impact police officers' attitudes; in particular, it speaks to the concern that veterans bring a warrior mentality to the job. Findings suggest that these fears are not founded.Practical implicationsPolice agencies commonly give preferential hiring to military veterans. Current findings suggest that this practice does not threaten police–community relations.Originality/valueScant research has examined the impact of military experience on police officers' job-related attitudes and specifically on their perceptions of danger and their suspicion of citizens. Additionally, when military service is included in police studies, it is operationalized as a binary yes/no. Here, the authors parse service into different components for a more nuanced examination.

Analysis of the frequency of verbal and vocal signs in true and false statements

The paper presents research aimed at analysing the frequency of verbal and vocal signs in a situation of false and true statements, by introducing a secondary task. The research involved 100 students (47 men and 53 women) of the master's studies of criminal investigation at the University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies, aged 23-44. Students had the task, based on the observation of twenty selected videos (10 true statements and 10 false statements), to mark the frequency of each individual verbal and vocal sign, on a previously generated and prepared list. The results show that there is a statistically significant difference in terms of the frequency of all verbal and vocal signs in a false or true statement: response latency, speech hesitation, speech errors, speech rate, number of spoken words in the utterance, and length of utterance. Response latency, speech hesitation, and speech errors have higher median values in false utterances than in true ones, while speech rate, number of words spoken, and length of utterance show higher median values in true than false utterances.

Differences in general physical abilities viewed in relation to entrance exam and the efficiency of studying

The system of selection for the admission to the University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies in Belgrade (UCIPS) is designed as a multidimensional model in order to select the individuals of utmost quality. One of the segments is the assessment of the level of general physical abilities (GPA). The aim of this research was to determine the differences between the initial level of candidates' GPA in terms of the success achieved in the entrance exam as well as the success of the study process. General physical abilities of 618 male candidates were evaluated as part of the UCIPS enrolment process. The total sample of respondents was divided into sub-samples: candidates who were not enrolled (NE), candidates who were enrolled but not graduated (ENG) and those who were enrolled and graduated (EG). It was found that both groups of enrolled candidates (ENG and EG) had statistically significantly better GPA compared to NE. There were no statistically significant differences between the ENG and the EG. Considering the fact that the results of the GPA assessment tests, which hypothetically represent 20% of the possible total score, depend on a training process that involves persistence, continuity and commitment, it can be concluded that constant physical exercise could be one of the preconditions for success in the entrance exam to enrol UCIPS.

POLICE STUDIES PROGRAM FOR YOUTH AT RISK: THE ROLE OF POLICE DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE AND PERSONAL MORALITY IN EXPLAINING POLICE LEGITIMACY

This study examined a unique police studies intervention program by comparing two groups of youth-at-risk in two types of residential youth schools. The experimental group included 129 youths who had attended a police studies program, while the control group included 167 youths who had attended a different intervention program, without police studies. We hypothesized that the experimental group would have more positive perceptions of police legitimacy and distributive justice and higher levels of personal morality than the control group would. Moreover, we hypothesized that the relationship between the type of the intervention program and perceptions of police legitimacy would be explained by youths’ personal morality and perceptions of police distributive justice. The study showed that the experimental group had more positive perceptions of police legitimacy and higher personal morality than did the control group, but there were no differences in perceived police distributive justice between the two groups. In addition, while personal morality partly mediated the link between the type of intervention program and perceptions of police legitimacy, perceived police distributive justice did not. Empirical and theoretical implications are discussed.

A New Frame? Transforming Policing through Guarantees of Non-Repetition

Using qualitative legal scholarship, combined with literature analysis from post-conflict peacebuilding and police studies, this article provides a normative and theoretical lens through which police and other actors can view and carry out reform efforts. It explores whether and how the concept of guarantees of non-repetition could contribute to or reframe discussions in order to prevent future violence and facilitate lasting institutional changes. The article examines the development of a broader approach to security sector reform and explores guarantees of non-repetition and the conceptual confusion it has encountered. It teases out the main aspects of guarantees of non-repetition, including its human rights elements, such as due diligence obligations. Finally, it addresses how guarantees of non-repetition provide a normative institutional policy framework that offers the possibility to shift the rhetoric to focus on State obligations that are context-driven. As a result, guarantees of non-repetition could prove useful when addressing police reform.

Marketisation or corporatisation? Making sense of private influence in public policing across Canada and the US

New forms of private influence are emerging in public policing across Canada. This includes private sponsorship of public police and donations to police foundations. This chapter explores key concepts in criminology and criminal justice studies and gauges their applicability to private sponsorship and donations in public policing. We compare definitions and applications of marketisation and corporatisation. Marketisation and corporatisation are often invoked in scholarly and even activist debates, but these terms are often conflated or erroneously used. There are subtle but important differences between marketisation and corporatisation that we explain here. We attempt to add clarity to these debates occurring within police studies as well as in criminology and criminal justice studies more broadly.

Why policing the risk society became a footnote in American police studies: A missed opportunity to move police theorizing forward

Written in 1997, Ericson and Haggerty’s book Policing the Risk Society (PRS) should have had profound effects on police theorizing and research in the United States. In this article, we attempt to explain why this book failed to gain traction within the American policing literature. We argue that PRS was ignored for three reasons: (1) incommensurable theoretical frameworks, (2) timing and aim of the book’s publication, and (3) the intrusiveness of deductive surveillance technologies in the policing of identities. We conclude by discussing how Ericson and Haggerty’s theorizing should be revisited in the light of recent developments in policing.