Legal socialization and selective exposure to “cop-watching” websites
Policing: An International Journal
ISSN: 1363-951X
Article publication date: 8 October 2019
Issue publication date: 20 November 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The legitimacy crisis faced by law enforcement has been suggested to be the result of a new media environment where citizens can record encounters with police and place these recordings online. The purpose of this paper is to examine the motives of individuals who cop-watch, or record the police, but not the factors influencing visiting cop-watching websites.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a cross-sectional, national sample of 702 American adults, and drawing on theories of legal socialization and selective exposure, the current study examines the prevalence and correlates visiting “cop-watching” websites.
Findings
Approximately 9 percent of the sample reports having ever visited these sites. Results from a series of logistic regressions indicate legal cynicism is positively associated with having ever visited these sites, having done so recently, following these sites on social media and visiting these sites more frequently after Ferguson. Police legitimacy reduced the likelihood that individuals had ever visited these sites, but was unrelated to other outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional nature of the survey precludes discussion of causality, but results are fairly consistent with theoretical expectations.
Originality/value
The current study reflects an early attempt to understand correlates of public consumption of “cop-watching” material.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the editor, Lorie Fridell, and the anonymous reviewers, as well as James Densley, Scott Allen and Kate Doubler for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. An earlier version of the manuscript was presented at the 2017 annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology in Philadelphia, PA by Scott Allen. Scott passed away unexpectedly in the Spring of 2019. We miss you, man.
Citation
Moule Jr, R.K., Parry, M.M. and Fox, B. (2019), "Legal socialization and selective exposure to “cop-watching” websites", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 42 No. 6, pp. 1063-1080. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-02-2019-0027
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited