Re-examining the normative, expressive, and instrumental models: how do feelings of insecurity condition the willingness to cooperate with police in different contexts?

Abstract

Policing by consent has long been viewed as a fundamental feature of modern policing. Police need citizens to report crime and suspicious activity and to assist police with their enquiries. The procedural justice model is commonly employed to explain cooperation with police, yet few studies consider how social context informs cooperation. In this study we examine the role of contextual factors in developing a better understanding of the procedural justice model of cooperation with police. To do so we compare results in two contexts: St Louis County (US) and Brisbane (Australia). We find similarities and differences in the way contextual factors (including feelings of insecurity and social cohesion and trust) impact the willingness to assist police across our two research sites.

An Investigation of Civilian Implicit Attitudes Toward Police Officers

“…Anticipated cooperation with police. Anticipated cooperation with police was assessed using a previously developed 4-item scale (e.g., Murphy et al, 2014;Sargeant & Kochel, 2018).…”

“…Unpleasant experiences with police officers facilitate a lack of trust among civilians, ultimately leading to a reduced anticipation of cooperation. Several studies have focused on procedural justice (e.g., being fair) as a predictor of willingness to cooperate, and indicate that perceptions of procedural injustice (e.g., police brutality or misconduct) reduce willingness to cooperate with police (e.g., Sargeant & Kochel, 2018). However, perceptions of procedural justice have negative consequences for minority group members who perceive the law as illegitimate and are disengaged from law enforcement (e.g., I don't really know what the police expect of me and I'm not about to ask), resulting in reduced anticipated cooperation with police (Murphy & Cherney, 2012).…”

“…Participants answered three questions in response to the vignette which ultimately assessed their anticipation of police behavior, their anticipation of police fear, and their anticipated personal support for the police officer if the police officer were to shoot the civilian. The previously used and validated willingness to cooperate with police scale (e.g., Murphy et al, 2014;Sargeant & Kochel, 2018) was also used as an outcome measure.…”

Explaining Racial Differences in Ferguson’s Impact on Local Residents’ Trust and Perceived Legitimacy: Policy Implications for Police

“… 12. For example, see Sargeant and Kochel (2016), which used percent of maximum possible (POMP) scores to compare the levels of perceived procedural justice and legitimacy across residents in Brisbane, Australia versus St. Louis County, Missouri (USA), even though the original scales for the variables differed by context. …”

Police perceptions of residents in a high-crime area in Trinidad and Tobago: Community framing and crime wars

“…However, residents in disadvantaged areas are not unanimously antagonistic towards police. Past research shows that while these residents may be aware of problems with the police in their communities, they may perceive the police as legitimate and be willing to cooperate with them, especially if they have positive direct and vicarious experiences with police (Brunson and Gau, 2014; Sargeant and Kochel, 2018) and perceive a need to depend on them for protection from victimization in the community (Kochel, 2018). What remains under-examined is how officers make sense of interactions and situate community members for policing purposes.…”