E-Totem, Digital Locative Media to Support E-Participation in Cities

The relationship between governments and their citizens has changed with the rise of ICTs. Even if these changes can strengthen the active role of society in the control and participation of public administration, there is a risk that this process can increase exclusion especially in developing countries, mainly because a large part of the population does not have access at all times to the facilities and services provided by ICTs. This article describes e-Totem, a software and hardware platform produced to support inclusive e-participation in large cities. It is also described three popular participation initiatives implemented using the platform, from which hundreds of thousands of citizen interactions were obtained from the platform. e-Totem is customized to be inclusive and suitable for use in such a wide variety of scenarios as well as being used by such a significant volume of people.

Low Self-Control and Perceptions of Procedural Justice Among Urban-Born Youth: The Moderating Role of Officer Intrusiveness

The current study examines whether the link between low self-control and perceptions of procedural justice among urban-born youth is contingent on acts of officer intrusiveness. Data come from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and are restricted to youth reporting lifetime police stops at Year 15 ( N = 918). Findings reveal that the association between low self-control and diminished perceptions of procedural justice is significantly moderated by officer intrusiveness. To be precise, low self-control became more relevant in diminished perceptions of procedural justice as officer intrusiveness decreased. The findings carry implications for police-citizen interactions, including the training of police officers in developmental science and how low self-control may shape youth perceptions of police encounters.

Symbolic Representation, Expectancy Disconfirmation, and Citizen Complaints Against Police

The theory of symbolic representation expects that citizens will view the actions of government as more legitimate when administrators share their characteristics. Although there is support for this assertion in some service areas, the evidence in policing is mixed. We draw on Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory to develop the expectation that policing is an area where we may be unlikely to see a positive relationship between representation and positive citizen perceptions of government officials. We test this expectation in an individual-level analysis of citizen complaints against police from four American cities between 2014 and 2017. The results suggest that, all else equal, complaints against Black officers are as or more likely to be filed by Black citizens than by citizens of other races. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these results for both the study of representative bureaucracy and for the management of police citizen interactions.

Police–community relations and cultural competency: Important means of countering violent extremism

Cultural competency may be helpful to police in fighting violent extremism. Perceived cultural competency of security officers may directly affect citizens responses, especially individuals from vulnerable communities. Police often need to depend upon citizens’ cooperation to identify those who may be engaging in activities of violent extremism. Therefore, officers must be trained in cultural competency to help reduce feelings of citizen alienation. Participants from three Canadian cities completed an online survey concerning perceptions of police cultural competence in several areas, including national security. Results were discussed with focus groups. With cultural variations, citizens were mostly satisfied with police–citizen interactions. However, some felt they were singled out because of race and religion. Participants stated better police training in cultural competence would lead to greater police–citizen cooperation. All would contact police if the security of Canada were in danger. However, there are those who will never trust police.

Stonewalling in the Brick City: Perceptions of and Experiences with Seeking Police Assistance among LGBTQ Citizens

Extant research has documented police interactions between racial and ethnic minority populations, including negative perceptions of and experiences with the police; police corruption and misconduct; and the deleterious effects of negative relationships with the police, such as reduced legitimacy and mistrust. Comparatively, exchanges between lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) populations and the police have received limited attention. This is despite work suggesting that LGBTQ citizens face an elevated risk of victimization, and a possible reticence in reporting their victimization, resulting from negative perceptions of police, fear of mistreatment, or even experiences of harassment and abuse by police. To extend the research in this area, I analyze 12 focus groups with LGBTQ participants (N = 98) in an urban setting to examine the circumstances in which LGBTQ people would seek assistance from the police, when they would avoid doing so, and their justifications for avoiding or contacting the police. I also considered intersectionality in shaping police–citizen interactions between sexual and/or gender minority citizens of color, as the sample was almost exclusively LGBTQ persons of color. I conclude by discussing implications for policing practices and policies.

Interaction of Citizens with Regulatory Enforcement and Inspection Bodies: Status and Key Trends

The objective of the paper is to evaluate the status and trends of citizen interactions with regulatory enforcement and inspection bodies in the framework of inspection reform.The key method used was a representative sociological survey conducted in 35 Russian regions in March 2020. The survey allowed for collecting citizen evaluations on personal experience related to facing 10 major risks to public values (in the areas of personal safety from crime, food and non-food product safety, fire and technical safety of buildings and constructions, environmental safety, risks related to medical services and drugs, transport safety, risks related to financial services and misuse of personal data).The results demonstrate that some 49.5 percent of Russian citizens have faced the need to protect themselves from the above risks for the past 2 years. Out of them, 44.9 percent of respondents applied for protection to regulatory enforcement and inspection authorities. Only 44.2 percent of respondents that had applied to regulatory enforcement and inspection authorities for protection of public values fully attained their objectives (i.e. managed to prevent the threat or have violations eliminated and the damage reimbursed).Comparing these results to those obtained from the previous surveys demonstrates that implementation of the inspection reform has not yet made any significant effect on improving the quality of interaction between citizen and regulatory enforcement and inspection authorities. To improve the quality of such interactions special measures should be undertaken for improving the use of feedback mechanisms for planning inspection activities. Responses to citizen applications should be controlled not only in terms of timeliness but also in terms of substance. Timely review and reaction to citizen applications as well as more involvement in damage reimbursement processes on the part of regulatory enforcement and inspection authorities are also recommended. Broader use of digital technologies for interactions between citizen and regulatory enforcement and inspection authorities could also help improve the quality of these interactions and contribute to increasing the public trust to these authorities.

Body-Worn Cameras and Policing

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are being deployed in police departments at unprecedented rates according to empirical research. In trying to catch up, research into the technology is now rapidly growing. Especially in the beginning, the technology presented various potential positives, such as increasing police legitimacy and accountability as well as aiding with reports. Research into BWCs is split into seven main themes: General Overviews, Standalone Empirical Works, Police-Citizen Interactions, Perceptions of BWCs, Officer Compliance with BWCs and Impacts on Reports, Organizational Effects, and Costs and Benefits of BWCs. To start, general overviews provides articles and reports which investigate the literature as a whole and identify common themes. Many of these articles entail extensive literature reviews. Standalone Empirical Works includes research that approaches BWCs from new angles and perspectives. The sections Police-Citizen Interactions and Perceptions of BWCs have received the largest amount of attention. Police-Citizen Interactions includes material that examines how BWCs influence citizen cooperation or compliance with the police, citizen complaints of the police, reports of police use of force, and use of procedural justice. Perceptions of BWCs includes research on attitudes held by both citizens and police, though the majority of articles investigate officer beliefs. Officer Compliance with BWCs and Impacts on Reports examines how the beliefs of officers impact usage and subsequent use of footage. Then the article moves into examining how BWCs and organizations reciprocally impact each other. The article ends with presenting reports and articles that weigh the costs and benefits of deploying BWCs.

Using Public Priorities To Disentangle the Dimensions of Procedural Justice and Trustworthiness In Police–Citizen Interactions

Multidimensional constructs like procedural justice and trustworthiness are important drivers of public trust in the police. Less attention has been paid, however, to the differential import of the dimensions of procedural justice (voice, respect and impartiality) or trustworthiness (ability, benevolence and integrity). A national convenience sample of US residents was asked to prioritize among the dimensions of procedural justice (Study 1) or trustworthiness (Study 2) in designing the officer with whom they would want to interact in each of the four scenarios. These scenarios were then varied as a function of the ostensible severity and concreteness of the salient, police-controlled harm. Our results suggest that, when forced to allocate limited resources among them, participants systematically prioritized some dimensions over others. The findings also shed preliminary light on the elements of the situation that may impact that prioritization.

Creating Guardians or Warriors? Examining the Effects of Non-Stress Training on Policing Outcomes

High-profile fatal police shootings of persons of color in recent years have led some to propose changes in the ways that police officers are trained to reduce violence in interactions between officers and citizens. This article explores the impact of a non-stress-oriented training model that some police academies have adopted as an alternative to traditional militaristic training models. We integrate multiple theoretical perspectives to develop the expectation that training interventions will have a significant impact on the nature of police/citizen interactions only when turnover of officers is sufficiently high. Results from analyses of 133 middle- to large-sized municipal police departments in 2013 suggest that non-stress training is significantly associated with reductions in use of deadly force by officers in those departments where recruits trained under such regimes make up a larger portion of the force. We do not find a significant direct or moderated effect on the number of police injured in confrontations with citizens or in the prevalence of discretionary arrests.