Andy Myhill

Overcoming cop culture? Organizational justice and police officers’ attitudes toward the public

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test theories of organizational justice in the context of a police agency.Design/methodology/approach – Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyze data from a survey of officers in a police force in England.Findings – The SEM showed that organizational justice was associated with positive attitudes towards serving members of the public. This relationship was mediated by commitment to elements of community policing and, for community police officers, by general satisfaction with the organization.Practical implications – The findings suggest that police managers committed to implementing process‐based policing policies may need to ensure their organizations also implement internal policies and practices that are procedurally fair.Originality/value – This study is one of the first to apply the well established literature on organizational justice to the context of policing, and the first to examine the impact of organizational justice on alignment with c...

Why do ‘the law’ comply? Procedural justice, group identification and officer motivation in police organizations

How can police officers be encouraged to commit to changing organizational and personal practice? In this paper we test organizational justice theories that suggest that fair processes and procedures enhance rule compliance and commitment to the organization and its goals. We pay particular attention to (a) tensions between the role of group identity in organizational justice models and classic concerns about ‘cop culture’; and (b) the danger of over-identification with the organization and the counterproductive types of compliance this may engender. Results suggest that organizational justice enhances identification with the police organization, encourages officers to take on new roles, increases positive views of community policing, and is associated with greater self-reported compliance. Identification with the organization has generally positive implications; however, there is some danger that process fairness may encourage unthinking compliance with orders and instructions.

Can police enhance public confidence by improving quality of service? Results from two surveys in England and Wales

Public opinions of the police have been a fixture at the top of the policy agenda in England and Wales in recent years, with successive governments stating they wish to see improvements in ‘trust and confidence’. But significant doubts remain as to how this might be done, and even if it is possible for police to enhance public confidence in any straightforward way. Indeed, it often seems that it is much easier for police to damage public opinion than to improve it. This paper reports findings from two surveys on contact between the public and the police conducted in England and Wales. First, panel data are used to examine the issue of ‘asymmetry’ in the relationship between satisfaction with police contacts and wider public confidence in the police. Negative pre-existing opinions of the police are found to be predictive of negatively received contact, while positive views do not predict well-received contact. Yet, single contacts, both negative and positive, are predictive of subsequent confidence in the police. Second, British Crime Survey data are used to investigate what ‘drives’ satisfaction among crime victims. Personal treatment appears to be valued over criminal justice outcomes, providing support for process-based policing models. It appears that fears about an absolute asymmetry in the effect of contact on confidence may be overstated, and that improving the way officers handle encounters might lead to enhanced trust and confidence.

Measuring Coercive Control What Can We Learn From National Population Surveys

Numerous academic studies point to gender symmetry in the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV). Many of these studies report findings from surveys with small and/or unrepresentative samples that have insufficient questions to differentiate adequately between different types of abuse. Data from a large, nationally representative survey suggest that, while the prevalence of situational violence is fairly symmetrical, coercive controlling abuse is highly gendered, with women overwhelmingly the victims. The authors conclude that more comprehensive measures are required in national surveys that consider a wider range of controlling behaviors as well as the meaning and impact of abuse.

Police use of discretion in response to domestic violence

This article addresses the issue of police officers’ use of discretion when responding to domestic violence. With reference to Ericson and Haggerty’s theory of risk-oriented policing, we collected data direct from information management systems in an English police force and conducted field observations with attending officers to explore the degree to which officers used discretion to interpret the national definition of domestic violence. We also considered how officers applied national standards for recording incidents and crimes. We found that considerable discretion was required to interpret the official definition of domestic violence, and that decision making in relation to recording or otherwise incidents and crimes of domestic violence was variable. Specifically, we found examples of domestic-related incidents not recorded as such, and examples of crimes either not or incorrectly recorded. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.

Triggers of change to public confidence in the police and criminal justice system: Findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales panel experiment:

Accounts of public ‘trust and confidence’ in criminal justice agencies often fall into one of two camps. Instrumental accounts suggest that people trust police and the criminal justice system (CJS) when they believe them to be effective in fighting crime and reducing offending. Expressive or affective accounts, by contrast, suggest people place as much or more emphasis on the social meaning of justice institutions as on their instrumental activities. In this article we add to recent studies that have sought to weigh up the balance between instrumental and expressive factors. Using data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales panel experiment, we present evidence that trust in police and the wider CJS is implicated in public concerns about the nature of local order and cohesion. The expressive account appears to offer a better understanding of why people may grant trust to, or withdraw trust from, the police and the CJS.

The “Golden Thread”: Coercive Control and Risk Assessment for Domestic Violence

Research on risk assessment for domestic violence has to date focused primarily on the predictive power of individual risk factors and the statistical validity of risk assessment tools in predicting future physical assault in sub-sets of cases dealt with by the police. This study uses data from risk assessment forms from a random sample of cases of domestic violence reported to the police. An innovative latent trait model is used to test whether a cluster of risk factors associated with coercive control is most representative of the type of abuse that comes to the attention of the police. Factors associated with a course of coercive and controlling conduct, including perpetrators’ threats, controlling behavior and sexual coercion, and victims’ isolation and fear, had highest item loadings and were thus the most representative of the overall construct. Sub-lethal physical violence—choking and use of weapons—was also consistent with a course of controlling conduct. Whether a physical injury was sustained during the current incident, however, was not associated consistently either with the typical pattern of abuse or with other context-specific risk factors such as separation from the perpetrator. Implications for police practice and the design of risk assessment tools are discussed. We conclude that coercive control is the “golden thread” running through risk identification and assessment for domestic violence and that risk assessment tools structured around coercive control can help police officers move beyond an “incident-by-incident” response and toward identifying the dangerous patterns of behavior that precede domestic homicide.

Renegotiating domestic violence: police attitudes and decisions concerning arrest

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from a comparative study of police decision-making. Interview data are used to revisit Hoyle’s [1998. Negotiating domestic violence: police, criminal justice and victims. Oxford: Oxford University Press] explanatory model of police decision-making in response to domestic violence. The analysis suggested Hoyle’s model remains relevant: officers were more likely to arrest if there was evidence of a criminal offence they perceived as serious (most often physical violence), and if they perceived ongoing risk of harm to the victim. The data did suggest official policies around presumptive arrest are now more salient, but that officers continue to use traditional ‘craft’ work to circumvent such policies in cases where they perceive the risk of further harm to be minimal. Implications for practice and debates around the efficacy of arrest are discussed.

Practitioner (mis)understandings of coercive control in England and Wales

Coercive control is harmful behaviour recently criminalized in England and Wales. The extent to which the work of practitioners is informed by an understanding of coercive control therefore requires investigation. Using data from two mixed methods multi-site studies, this article suggests that practitioners’ recognition of coercive control does not seem to be universally poor or skilled, but rather depends on the characteristics of the situation itself, the organizational context in which practitioners work and the stage at which they are evaluating whether coercive control is present. The absence of a clear understanding of the importance of coercive control when making judgements about victims and perpetrators has serious implications for the efficacy of current approaches to domestic abuse. Purposeful and systematic efforts to support practitioners to recognize and respond effectively to coercive control are required.