Search

Concerns about excessive use of force by U.S. police have led to calls for agencies to move from 'warrior' to 'guardian' policing. 'Warrior' policing embodies an aggressive or coercive approach to law enforcement, while 'guardian' policing prioritises communication, procedural justice and citizen safety. Associations between guardian and warrior policing orientations and use of force attitudes in the U.S. have been found, however the influence of these orientations on police use of force in Australia has not been examined. This study examined the association of guardian and warrior policing orientations with use of force attitudes, threat perceptions and tactical decision-making among Australian officers, through a survey of 183 police officers in Queensland. Regression analyses indicated that warrior policing was associated with greater support for use of force and greater perceived threat in an ambiguous threat scenario, while guardian policing was associated with more restraint in tactical decision-making among Australian police officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to test the police 'empowerment hypothesis' to better understand public support for police powers during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, we draw on Australian survey data to compare the efficacy of the instrumental and normative models of police empowerment to enforce social distancing regulations. We find that instrumental concerns about risk dominate participants' willingness to empower the police during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when it comes to what police can do to encourage police empowerment, procedural justice appears to be more important than police effectiveness, supporting the normative model. Our article adds to the limited but growing body of research that examines the correlates of police empowerment and the conditions under which members of the public are willing to grant police expanded powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police have been criticized for their biased treatment of minorities. While many officers do not hold prejudicial attitudes toward minorities, discrimination continues. Stereotype threat research offers one possible explanation for why this is so. Paradoxically, studies reveal that officers who feel more threatened by the 'racist cop' stereotype rely more on coercive force in interactions with minorities. This perpetuates the view that police are racist. This study examines whether officers can overcome the negative consequences of experiencing stereotype threat. It focuses on the link between stereotype threat and officers' support for procedural justice policing, and examines how social identity moderates this relationship. Using survey data from 307 police officers (22.5% females, 11.1% non-Australian ancestry, and 69.4% general duties officers), we find that stereotype threat is associated with reduced support for procedural justice, but is moderated by how officers self-identify. Officers who identify more strongly as 'guardians' (i.e. they emphasize policing as a service) are more likely to display stereotype resistance; that is, they are better able to resist the negative consequences of the 'racist cop' stereotype. Those who identify less strongly as 'guardian' officers, in contrast, fall victim to stereotype threat and display stereotype conformity. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading police scholars and practitioners were asked to reflect on the most urgent issues that need to be addressed on the topic of use of force. Four themes emerged from their contributions: use of force and de‐escalation training needs to improve and be evaluated; new ways of conceptualizing use of force encounters and better use of force response models need to be developed; the inequitable application of force, and how to remediate biases, needs to be more fully understood; and misconceptions about police use of force need to be identified and corrected. The highlighted topics serve as an agenda for future research. Such research should provide greater insight into when, where, and why force is used by police officers, and how it can be applied appropriately. If implemented, the practical recommendations included in the contributions should have a positive impact on police performance, public trust and confidence in the police, and citizen and officer safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical distancing measures have become the first line of defence for slowing COVID-19 virus transmission. However, studies have demonstrated that compliance with physical distancing restrictions has not been uniform. Police have also encountered widespread resentment of the restrictions, defiance, and people purposefully flouting restrictions. In this study, we examined factors associated with compliance with COVID-19 restrictions among those who held defiant attitudes toward police during the early stages of the pandemic in Australia. The study draws on survey data collected from 1595 Australians during the initial lockdown period in Australia. Regression analysis was applied to determine if two forms of defiance toward police (resistance and disengagement) were associated with reduced compliance with restrictions while controlling for other known correlates of compliance. We also identified factors that were associated with compliance among highly resistant and disengaged individuals. Findings indicate that defiant individuals were significantly less likely to comply with physical distancing restrictions. Among highly resistant and disengaged individuals, recent police-initiated encounters that were deemed to be procedurally unjust were also associated with reduced compliance. In addition, highly disengaged individuals were less likely to comply if they were concerned about ongoing loss of freedoms post-COVID-19. The implications of the findings for defiance and compliance research, as well as for COVID-19 policing strategies, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research in the United States has argued that the threat of confirming the "racist cop" stereotype may paradoxically increase the propensity for coercive policing by depressing officers' self-legitimacy. The current study aimed to assess the influence of the threat of the "racist cop" stereotype on officers' self-legitimacy and their attitudes toward force in an Australian policing jurisdiction. An online survey was completed by 306 frontline officers in Queensland, Australia. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the influence of stereotype threat on officers' attitudes toward force, and the extent to which this is mediated by perceptions of self-legitimacy. The findings confirmed previous findings, with increased officer perceptions of stereotype threat associated with increased support for coercive policing, mediated by reduced self-legitimacy. The findings are discussed with reference to how the validity and salience of the "racist cop" stereotype can be diminished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a considerable body of evidence on the influence of individual and situational, and to a lesser extent community factors, on police use of force, little is known about the influence of police agency factors on use of force by police. Greater use of community policing approaches has recently been recommended for U.S. policing agencies, in the wake of a series of high-profile police-involved deaths of predominantly African American citizens. However, there is limited empirical evidence that community policing can influence or impact the use of force by police. The current study uses an online survey of Australian police officers to examine whether frequency of community engagement affects officers' attitudes towards coercive and non-coercive policing responses to a vignette, and whether social distance might explain this relationship. Regression analyses demonstrated that community engagement was positively related to endorsement of non-coercive policing responses and negatively related to endorsement of coercive policing responses. Social distance mediated the former relationship, but not the latter. These results suggest that community policing approaches may increase the propensity for non-coercive policing responses, and that a reduction in social distance to the community is one pathway through which this occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant research on police use of force has established that force is not distributed evenly across communities, with minority threat, ecological contamination, and social disorganisation some of the most common theories used to understand the distribution of police use of force in the US. The current study aimed to test the relevance of these theories for explaining the distribution of serious police use of force events in Australia. We tested a use of force frequency model using negative binomial regression, and a use of force severity model using ordered logistic multilevel modelling. Results demonstrated support for ecological contamination theory, social disorganisation and partial support for socio-economic disadvantage in predicting the frequency of serious police use of force events across communities, while minority threat theory was not supported. In contrast, results suggested that individual and situational factors are more influential in predicting force severity than community characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies subtypes of citizen behavioral characteristics within police use of force events and assesses ecological influences on these subtypes. Data comprised police use of force reports, recorded crime data, and census data. Latent class analysis was applied to 19,900 police use of force events to identify latent classes of citizen behavioral characteristics. A five class-solution demonstrated best fit and comprised the following classes: violent, unstable, and drug or alcohol affected; apparent mental disorder and possessing a weapon; alcohol-related violence; suspicious and fleeing; and violent behavior and threatening a weapon. Chi-square analysis and multilevel logistic regression showed each citizen presentation class was associated with distinct patterns of offence types and contexts for police use of force. Ecological influences were notable for three classes of citizen presentations. The clustering of citizen behaviors within incidents provides insights into the nature and distribution of types of police–citizen encounters where force is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]