‘Rhetoric without reality’ or effective policing strategy? An analysis of the relationship between community policing and police fatal force

A Tale of Force: Examining Policy Proposals to Address Police Violence

“…Findings from previous research reveal that UOF is geographically concentrated in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods; therefore, our organizational-level analysis may miss racialized neighborhood variation (see Klinger et al 2016; Lautenschlager and Omori 2019). Consistently, Koslicki et al (2020) find that police killings are higher in localities with larger Black and Hispanic populations.…”

“…Novak et al (2002) found that community officers arrested citizens at slightly lower rates than general patrol officers and engaged less frequently in encounters where arrests were possible dispositions. Conversely, Koslicki et al (2020) found that beat officers and officers assigned to more permanent community locations as well as recruits exposed to community policing training were associated with higher rates of fatal encounters. Similarly, studies on stop-and-frisk programs have shown that the presence of proactive crime-prevention-oriented patrol officers undermined police-community relationships (Evans and Williams 2017; Meares 2014; Rios, Prieto, and Ibarra 2020), which suggest that patrol officers may also increase the likelihood of violent policing.…”

“…The policy recommendation to increase community policing efforts is, on its face, more of an organizational intervention, although as we detail below it is really a set of loosely connected practices, some of which are probably more symbolic responses to citizen complaints than real organizational reform, reminiscent of organizational diversity efforts more generally (e.g., Kelly and Dobbin 1998), while others can be expected to both increase and decrease police violence. Koslicki et al (2020), with a research design similar to our own, but with a focus on police killings, also warn that community policing is potentially symbolic or even counterproductive, particularly in the absence of change in police culture and training.…”

“…Given the complexity of community policing in practice, it is not surprising that there has been little research on overall efficacy. Existing research is often at the individual perceptual level and rarely speaks to the effectiveness of these programs as they relate to organizational culture, crime, arrests, and with the exception of Wood et al (2020) and Koslicki et al (2020) does not speak at all to police violence. Most of the research that has examined the relationship between community policing and crime rates has found little or no relationship between the two (Gill et al 2014; MacDonald 2002).…”

Police Chiefs, Organizational Justice, and Body-Worn Cameras: A Key to Releasing Video Footage

“…In fact, those with higher levels of trust and the sole discretion to disclose or not disclose footage were more willing to disclose raw footage immediately rather than several other options. This may be, as Koslicki et al (2020) proposes, a manner to promote police professionalism. Nevertheless, it similarly aligns with greater transparency.…”