Brianna Camero, Karen Cano-Rodriguez, Takudzwa Chawota, Kayon Morgan, Alicen Potts, Monserrat Solorzano-Franco, Charles Klahm IV and Yuning Wu
This study seeks to answer (1) how perceived neighborhood collective efficacy and disorder affect residents' cooperation with the police, both directly and indirectly through…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to answer (1) how perceived neighborhood collective efficacy and disorder affect residents' cooperation with the police, both directly and indirectly through perceptions of the police and (2) how Arab American ethnicity moderates the linkages between perceived collective efficacy, disorder and cooperation.
Design/methodology/approach
Relying on survey interview data from a probability sample of 414 residents in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, MI and path model analysis, this study tests an explanatory model of public cooperation with the police that integrates both neighborhood and policing factors.
Findings
Perceived neighborhood disorder undermines residents' desires to cooperate, and this influence is chiefly direct. Meanwhile, although no significant total effect, perception of neighborhood collective efficacy does have a positive effect on cooperation through the mediator of positive assessment of police effectiveness. Further, collective efficacy has a direct, positive effect on cooperation among Arab Americans only. Finally, perceptions of police equal treatment and effectiveness, rather than procedural justice, are significant correlates of public cooperation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the extremely limited literature on policing and Arab American communities. The findings can deepen the understanding on why and for which groups neighborhood context is related to cooperation with the police. Findings can also add to the knowledge base for designing policies and practices that help secure and promote public support and cooperation in both Arab and non-Arab communities.
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Keywords
Charles F. Klahm, Jordan Papp and Laura Rubino
This study set out to advance knowledge on the reporting of police shootings in print media. Media is the main source of information on criminal justice issues for most citizens…
Abstract
Purpose
This study set out to advance knowledge on the reporting of police shootings in print media. Media is the main source of information on criminal justice issues for most citizens. Thus, understanding the presentation of police-involved shooting incidents is important for determining the manner in which media might shape the opinions of readers.
Methodology/approach
The current study content analyzed relevant newspaper articles gathered from a large database of journalistic documents compiled by Lexis Nexis. Articles pertaining to police shootings published between January 1, 2014 and April 30, 2015, were identified and coded to document various dimensions of how these encounters are portrayed in print media.
Findings
Results indicate that explicit racialization of the stories was limited, which is contrary to what was expected. Neither the race of the suspect or officer was mentioned in most stories, making it difficult to assess explicit reporting bias of these incidents. However, results indicate that implicit bias might play a role in shaping the content portrayed in print news accounts of police-involved shootings.
Originality/value
The current study represents one of the first – if not the first – content analysis of news stories centered on police-involved shootings. Given the significant role media plays in delivering information about crime and justice topics to the citizenry, a working knowledge about the media’s portrayal of these events is important for understanding how media consumption may shape citizens’ opinions about police-involved shootings.
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Charles Frank Klahm IV, James Frank and John Liederbach
The study of police use of force remains a primary concern of policing scholars; however, over the course of the last several decades, the focus has shifted from deadly and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study of police use of force remains a primary concern of policing scholars; however, over the course of the last several decades, the focus has shifted from deadly and excessive force to a broader range of police behaviors that are coercive in nature, but not necessarily lethal, violent, or physical. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the critical disjuncture between the conceptualization of police use of force and operationalizations of the construct throughout policing literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study provides a thorough, systematic review of 53 police use of force studies published in peer-reviewed outlets. These manuscripts were reviewed to determine whether authors cited a conceptualization of use of force and explained how the construct was operationalized, as well as the police behaviors captured in measures of force across studies, and how the data were collected.
Findings
The findings suggest that police use of force is conceptually ambiguous, as 72 percent of the studies failed to cite a conceptual definition of the construct. Moreover, there is little consistency in the types of police behaviors operationalized as force across studies.
Originality/value
The authors illustrate that problems associated with poorly conceptualized constructs make it more difficult for researchers to interpret empirical findings. That is, conceptual ambiguity has resulted in a line of literature that includes inconsistent and contradictory findings, making it difficult to summarize in a meaningful way and inform policy.