Clearing crimes in the aftermath of police lethal violence

Abstract

Research summary Police use of violence may threaten police agencies’ effectiveness by reinforcing residents’ legal cynicism and disengagement from police. We examined police lethal violence against Black people and its relationship with clearance by arrest in a sample of Black victims’ crime incidents in over 350 jurisdictions in 2015, via Mapping Police Violence and the National Incident‐Based Reporting System (NIBRS). We calculated each crime incident's unique time‐varying exposure to police lethal violence, with an accompanying agency‐level measure that averaged this incident‐level measure. Under our original measures, multilevel survival analysis showed a statistically significant association with clearance for the agency‐level average exposure measure, but not for the time‐varying incident‐level exposure measure. Subsequent exploratory analyses suggested a possibly shorter‐lived relationship with incident‐level police lethal violence exposure, which should be investigated in future research. Policy implications Agency‐level findings encourage the adoption of reforms in policing practices and organizational characteristics that could enhance police legitimacy and citizen cooperation and promote perceptions of procedural justice in the Black community. Exploratory indications of a shorter‐lived relationship between police lethal violence and clearance will, if supported in further research, call for agencies to think carefully about adjusting detective work and resource allocations during the critical period following a police lethal violence event. A negative relationship between clearance rates and police lethal violence suggests a mutual interest of police agencies and activists in the reduction of police lethal violence.

Police diversity and crime clearance for Black and Hispanic victims

“…That is, when an agency's racial composition is more representative of the community it serves, minority residents may perceive the police less as a White institution that excludes and discriminates against them and develop more positive views of, and trust in, the police (Stauffer et al., 2022). Because greater citizen assistance in police work should flow from a relationship of mutual trust between police and minority communities (e.g., Desmond et al., 2016; Roberts & Roberts, 2022), this perspective suggests that clearance of cases involving minority victims will be more likely in more diverse police departments.…”

“…Similar to police diversification, an agency's embrace of community policing is intended to foster effective investigative partnerships with the community, which should be beneficial for crime clearance (Carter & Carter, 2016; Eitle et al., 2005; Litwin, 2004; Roberts, 2008; Roberts & Roberts, 2022; Tillyer, 2018). However, empirical findings on the impact of community policing on clearance are mixed (e.g., Kingshott & Meesig, 2019; Roberts, 2008; Schuck, 2018; Tillyer, 2018), tending to find no association when a single measure of community policing is used (e.g., Roberts, 2008; Tillyer, 2018).…”

“…Ideally, investigative resource measures would be specific to each incident, such as the number of detectives assigned to a case (Braga et al., 2019; Pizarro et al., 2020; Wellford et al., 2019), but some clearance studies have measured such agency‐level resources as operational budget, investigative technology, and overall agency workload. Findings on these factors’ relationships with clearance have been mixed (e.g., Jang et al., 2008; Kang, 2019; Roberts, 2008, 2015; Roberts & Roberts, 2016, 2022; Roth, 2018; Tillyer, 2018).…”

“…Some have focused on incident‐level variables, including victim demographic characteristics, situational aspects of the crime incident, and investigation‐related variables (e.g., Braga et al., 2019; Roberts, 2007). Others have explored aggregate‐level factors, including characteristics of the relevant police agency and the jurisdiction that it serves (e.g., Braga & Dusseault, 2018; Eitle et al., 2005; Regoeczi & Jarvis, 2013; Roberts, 2008; Roberts & Roberts, 2022; Scott et al., 2019; Worrall, 2019). Throughout this literature, scholars have recognized the essential role of citizen cooperation in crime investigations leading to an arrest (e.g., Carter & Carter, 2016; Keel et al., 2009) and incorporated it into explanations of the dynamics of these variables’ relationships with crime clearance.…”

“…For example, crime incidents with minority victims, or those that took place in structurally disadvantaged minority communities, tend to have lower clearance (e.g., Braga et al., 2019; Litwin, 2004; Litwin & Xu, 2007; Petersen, 2017; Roberts & Lyons, 2011; Vaughn, 2020). Although this could be due to less allocation of investigative time and resources to such cases by police, it could be attributed instead to lower citizen engagement in crime investigations by minority victims, their associates, or the socially disadvantaged minority community more generally (Regoeczi & Jarvis, 2013; Roberts & Roberts, 2022; Vaughn, 2020).…”