No abstract

During the past 20 years, there has been an expanding body of research examining citizens’ attitudes toward the police. Most of this research has been directed at assessing the determinants of these attitudes. In contrast, less attention has been focused on the reasons why citizens hold certain attitudes. The present study uses the survey responses of 613 residents of a midwestern city to examine the information accessed by citizens when responding to questions regarding their general and specific attitudes toward the police. The findings suggest that citizens focus on attributes of agencies and encounters, some focus on the behavior of officers during interactions, and others base their attitudes on general perceptions of the occupation of policing. Furthermore, the referent employed by citizens is not always consistent with the attitude object (i.e., general questions elicit specific responses). The likelihood that police agencies can influence citizens’ attitudes is also assessed.

Although prior research on racial profiling has consistently reported that minorities are overrepresented among traffic stops compared with the population, published research has been exclusively conducted in either large police departments or state highway patrols. Using research from a suburban police department, this study finds that although the police stop a disproportionate number of minorities, the relationship between race and the decision to stop is very weak. Multivariate models indicate minorities stopped by the police are more likely to be stopped at night and to reside outside the city. Minorities are significantly less likely to receive formal sanction than majorities, suggesting officers are using traffic violations for pretextual stops.

During the past 30 years, an expanding body of literature has evolved that examines the correlates of officers'decisions to arrest. This study extends this line of inquiry by investigating the influence of situational-and community-level variables on the arrest decisions of officers in an agency that has implemented community policing. Using data collected through systematic social observations of the police, the authors examine the direct effects of officers' assignment on the decision to arrest. In addition, the authors explore whether conventional arrest predictors vary between community and beat officers and, if so, the extent and nature of the variance. The findings generally suggest that there is no significant direct influence of assignment on arrest decisions. However, substantive differences in the decision-making process are revealed among predictors of arrest across assignments.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that influence officer behavior when encountering suspects of crime who are perceived to have a mental disorder.Design/methodology/approachThis paper utilizes data collected from systematic social observations of street officers during 617 encounters with suspects, including 49 that were perceived to have a mental disorder. Multivariate models are estimated to determine the relative influence mental disorder has on officer decision making.FindingsThe paper finds mentally disordered suspects are more likely to demonstrate disrespectful or hostile behavior. The paper also finds that disrespect and hostility increases the likelihood of arrests. However, results also demonstrate that despite behavioral differences, persons with mental disorders are significantly less likely to be arrested by officers. Results support the contention that officers view mental status as a mitigating factor during encounters, and further calls in to question the criminalization hypothesis.Research limitations/implicationsIt is not clear what extent informal actions were taken by officers during encounters with mentally disordered suspects. Future research can also examine the interaction process that occurs between police and citizens who are mentally disordered, and consider evaluating the effectiveness of various responses to mentally disordered suspects.Originality/valueThis paper has value for both practitioners interested in understanding the dynamics of the police‐citizen encounter, as well as academics who are involved with theorizing the nature of social control by police officers.