Police criminal charging decisions: An examination of post-arrest decision-making

Phillips, Scott W.; Varano, Sean P.

doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.06.002

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Policing has been witness to a significant amount of problematic issues (Blackwell & Vaughn, 2003;Kowalski & Lundman, 2007;McElvain & Kposowa, 2004;Phillips & Varano, 2008;Weir, Stewart, & Morris, 2012;Weitzer, 2002;Zhao, Ren, & Lovrich, 2010) as well as innovation and change in recent years (Culver, 2004;Zhao, Lovrich, & Robinson, 2001). For example, regarding the latter, technology is transforming modern policing; it is enhancing crime fighting capabilities, police accountability, and police-community relationships.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cops and cameras: Officer perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement

Jennings

Fridell

Lynch

2014

Journal of Criminal Justice

178

186

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cops and cameras: Officer perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement

Jennings

Fridell

Lynch

2014

Journal of Criminal Justice

178

186

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Hence it has been argued that arrest rates are as much a reflection of local enforcement policies and attitudes and police experience as they are a reflection of criminal behavior (Phillips and Varano 2008). Similarly, convictions may reflect legal resources available to patients as well as judicial policies, not just the commission of a crime.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Schizophrenia and Crime: How Predictable Are Charges, Convictions and Violence?

Heinrichs

Sam²

2010

Int J Ment Health Addiction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The schizophrenia-crime relationship was studied in 151 research participants meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and with histories positive or negative for criminal charges, convictions and offences involving violence. These crime-related variables were regressed on a block of nine predictors reflecting non-specific illness context (e.g. demographic, social) and a block of 14 predictors reflecting specific illness content (e.g. symptoms). Context variables predicted charges, with unique contributions from employment status, education and substance use. Further significant validity was provided by content-related predictors including symptoms (paranoia, depression, low energy), but not cognitive performance (verbal and non-verbal ability, working memory, processing speed, verbal memory, word fluency, inhibition, practical cognition). In contrast, neither convictions nor violence were predicted by illness context or content variables. These results suggest that specific contextual and intrinsic aspects of schizophrenic illness make interaction with law enforcement and therefore criminal charges more likely.Keywords Schizophrenia . Crime . Prediction . Symptoms Criminality, interpersonal conflict, violence and dangerousness are associated with schizophrenia in the public mind despite the low prevalence of these behaviors in people with the illness and despite evidence that they are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crime (Ascher-Svanum et al. 2010). Nevertheless, recent reviews, meta-analyses and empirical reports have found small, but statistically significant associations between psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia, and both violent and non-violent criminal offences, arrest rates and police contacts (Douglas et al.The persistence and social salience, if not the magnitude, of the schizophrenia-criminality link may contribute to policy and service decisions adversely affecting marginalized people diagnosed with serious mental illness. This link may reinforce the stigma that impedes their quality of life and limits access to health and social services. Hence understanding the nature of the schizophrenia-criminality interface is important from both scientific and clinical perspectives.One explanation for the association between schizophrenia and crime-related behaviors is that variables embedded in the context of the illness experience, but not intrinsic to the disease process itself, increase the probability of these behaviors. For example, social disadvantage, income and educational inequality are predictors of crime in the general population and may be strongly represented in the schizophrenia population (Kelly 2000;Daly et al. 2001). Thus Brekke et al. (2001 found that although violence against other people was rare, almost half of community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia had contact with police and almost a quarter were charged with offences. Younger age, frequent address changes and residential instability, as well as poor social functioning pred...

show abstract

“…Apparently this result is not uncommon. One study of officer charging decisions at domestic violence calls in New York found more than 50 % of officers applied multiple charges to argumentative suspected batterers, including charges of Bcriminal contempt^which is somewhat similar to disorderly conduct or obstruction of justice (Phillips and Varano 2008).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the vignettes lacked sufficient probable cause to justify an arrest for any offense, the prosecutor indicated he had observed officers arrest on charges of disorderly conduct, even if unjustified, as a way to diffuse disputes or punish persons who challenged their authority. The policing literature has also provided examples of disorderly conduct arrests being utilized in this manner (Muir 1977;Phillips and Varano 2008;Skolnick 1966;Westley 1970). As a result, a second question was posed to the respondents that asked, BHow likely would you be to arrest the man for disorderly conduct?^The response choices again included very likely, somewhat likely, unsure, somewhat unlikely, and very unlikely.…”

Section: Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suspect Demeanor and Arrest: a Triggered Displacement of Aggression Explanation

Johnson

2016

Am J Crim Just

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The evidence that police arrest suspects who display a disrespectful demeanor is mixed. One explanation for these equivocal results may be triggered displaced aggression theory. This theory suggests persons who are provoked to anger internalize their aggression and unleash it later on someone or something that further agitates them. A sample of officers was primed for either a positive or negative affect, presented with a domestic disturbance vignette, and asked to rate their likelihood of making an arrest. In one vignette version the suspect displayed a hostile demeanor and in the other the suspect's demeanor was neutral. Officers who were negatively primed and encountered the hostile demeanor suspect were most likely to arrest compared to officer in the other conditions. Many scholars have suggested that police officers make arrest decisions based, in part, on the demeanor the suspect displays toward the officers, even when that demeanor is not a legal violation (Becker ). Criminal suspects, their evidence revealed, were less likely to experience leniency from police officers if their demeanor was disrespectful toward the officers or challenge the officers' authority. Some more recent studies, however, have provided contradictory evidence that a hostile demeanor on the part of the suspect, as long as it excludes illegal behavior, does not increase the likelihood of arrest or citation (Brown and Frank

show abstract

Police criminal charging decisions: An examination of post-arrest decision-making

Cited by 25 publications

References 40 publications

Cops and cameras: Officer perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement

Cops and cameras: Officer perceptions of the use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement

Schizophrenia and Crime: How Predictable Are Charges, Convictions and Violence?

Suspect Demeanor and Arrest: a Triggered Displacement of Aggression Explanation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About