Devon Johnson

Anger about crime and support for punitive criminal justice policies

Previous research on the sources of punitive attitudes has largely focused on the cognitive and demographic factors associated with the desire to punish criminals harshly. This study focuses on the link between affect and punitiveness by examining the relationship between anger about crime and support for punitive criminal penalties. Using national survey data from the USA, this research shows that anger about crime is a significant predictor of punitive attitudes, after controlling for other factors such as racial prejudice, fear of crime, causal attributions for criminal behavior, and political ideology. The findings indicate the need for more research on the relationship between emotions and punitiveness.

Measuring public perceptions of the police

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test Mastrofskis six‐dimensional conceptualization of perceived service quality of the police.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on data collected from a mail survey of residents in a suburban Virginia (USA) community and uses confirmatory factor analysis to test the six‐dimensional model of service quality.Findings – The six‐dimensional model does not fit the data. Instead a one‐factor model fits the data, suggesting that public perceptions of police service quality are a one‐dimensional construct.Research implications – Further research is necessary on two fronts. First, research should seek to determine whether the findings are consistent across different community contexts and types of samples. Second, research on related perceptual constructs, including procedural justice and legitimacy, should explore measurement properties in more detail.Originality/value – This is one of few studies to examine the construct validity of public perception measure...

Striking Out: Race and Support for Police Use of Force

This research examines whites’ and blacks’ support for police use of force using a survey‐based experiment that varies the race of the offender across four different scenarios. Bivariate results show that the race of the offender influences blacks’ approval for the use of force by police, but does not affect whites’ approval. Multivariate analyses examine whether the factors influencing support for police use of force vary depending on the race of the offender. Results indicate that the predictors for approval of police use of force differ by the race of respondent, the race of offender, and the appropriateness of the use of force. The implications of the results for police–community relations are discussed.

Why homicide clearance rates decrease: evidence from the Caribbean

Police agencies and researchers have devoted significant attention to understanding and improving homicide clearance rates, which often serve as an overall barometer of police performance. Using quantitative and qualitative data, this study examines the factors that contributed to a rapid decline in homicide clearances in the developing island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. A variety of explanations are explored, including characteristics of homicide incidents, the communities where they occur, and the agencies that process these cases. The findings indicate that substantial changes in the nature of homicides, combined with insufficient organisational capacity within the criminal justice system to detect and respond to these changes, explain the declining homicide clearance rate. Theoretical explanations for homicide clearances must represent a blend of insights from criminology and organisational science to account for both the offence itself, as well as how it is processed by the police and other agencies.

Attitudes Toward the Use of Racial/Ethnic Profiling to Prevent Crime and Terrorism

Research indicates that public approval for the use of racial/ethnic profiling to prevent crime is low. In contrast, recent research and polling data suggest the public is more supportive of the use of racial/ethnic profiling to prevent terrorism. Using a survey-based experiment that varies the context for the use of racial/ethnic profiling (to prevent crime or to prevent terrorism), this study examines whether public approval for the use of racial/ethnic profiling by law enforcement officers differs across context. In addition, multivariate analyses examine whether the factors that are associated with support for the use of profiling, including race of respondent, salience of crime and terrorism, perceived racial bias in the justice system, and racial stereotyping, vary across context.

Procedural Justice, Obligation to Obey, and Cooperation with Police in a Sample of Ghanaian Immigrants

Theory and research highlight the importance of procedural justice for inculcating people’s obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with legal authorities, yet questions remain about the universality of these relationships across cultures and contexts. We examine the influence of procedural justice and other factors on Ghanaian immigrants’ obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with police. The findings suggest that when police are perceived to behave in a procedurally just manner, people feel an increased obligation to obey their directives and willingness to cooperate with them. Perceived police effectiveness does not influence Ghanaian immigrants’ obligation to obey police, but is the most dominant factor in shaping their willingness to cooperate with police. Respondents’ views of police in Ghana did not influence obligation or cooperation. The implications of the results for theory development, empirical research, and policies intended to improve police–immigrant relations are discussed.

The structure of public opinion on crime policy: Evidence from seven Caribbean nations

A long tradition of research has examined public opinion on crime policy. Much of this research focuses on identifying the determinants and correlates of public opinion; few studies have examined the dimensional structure of public attitudes toward crime policy. This study posits and tests a multidimensional conceptualization of attitudes toward crime policy. We hypothesize that two general dimensions – punitiveness and progressiveness – are the minimum necessary to account for people’s opinions on crime policy. We test this multidimensional conceptualization and examine the structure of public opinion on crime policy using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and survey data from more than 11,000 residents in seven Caribbean nations. Our findings indicate that public opinion in all seven nations is multidimensional.

Resident perceptions of police mistreatment and use of force in a troubled Trinidadian neighborhood

This study examines public perceptions of police mistreatment and use of force in a disadvantaged neighborhood in a developing Caribbean nation. This research describes residents’ perceptions of, and experiences with, police misbehavior before and after the implementation of a community-oriented policing initiative. Multivariate analyses examine whether the factors influencing perceptions of police use of excessive force varied across time. The initial results suggest that the introduction of community policing did not positively influence citizens’ views of, or experiences with, police mistreatment in this neighborhood. Results from the multivariate analyses suggest that the factors predicting public views about the frequency of excessive use of force by police did change over time. We offer several explanations for why change in residents’ views of police misbehavior did and did not occur.

Race, justice, policing, and the 2016 American presidential election

Scholars have long been interested in the intersection of race, crime, justice, and presidential politics, focusing particularly on the “southern strategy” and the “war on crime.” A recent string of highly-publicized citizen deaths at the hands of police and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement have brought renewed visibility to this racially-driven intersection, and in particular to issues involving contact with and attitudes toward the police. Using data from the 2016 Pilot Study of the American National Election Studies, this study explores how contact with the criminal justice system and perceptions of police injustice shape political behavior in the modern era, with a specific emphasis on prospective participation and candidate choice in the 2016 presidential election. The results indicate that being stopped by the police—an experience that can feel invasive and unjust—may motivate political participation, while spending time in jail or prison—an experience associated with a marginalization from mainstream civic life—appears to discourage political participation. Perceiving the police as discriminatory also seems to motivate political engagement and participation, though in opposite directions for conservative versus liberal voters. In addition, perceptions of police injustice were related to candidate choice, driving voters away from Donald Trump. Affective feelings about the police were not associated with candidate choice. Perceptions of the police appear to act in part as a proxy for racial resentments, at least among potential voters in the Republican primary. In sum, the intersection of race, justice, and policing remains highly relevant in U.S. politics.

The effects of community policing on fear of crime and perceived safety: findings from a pilot project in Trinidad and Tobago

ABSTRACT Using findings from a quasi-experiment, this study examines whether the implementation of community policing in Gonzales, a distressed Caribbean community, reduced fear of crime and increased perceptions of safety. We use a pre-post, comparison group design with two groups. Data are based on three waves of citizen surveys carried out in both groups. Our findings reveal that from wave 1 to wave 2, the treatment area experienced an increase in fear relative to the comparison area; the effect size was small and positive, but was not statistically significant. The change in perceived safety from wave 1 to 2 in the treatment area was trivial and non-significant. From wave 2 to 3, the treatment area experienced a significant positive increase in perceptions of safety relative to the comparison area. The treatment area also experienced a small reduction in fear relative to the comparison area, but the effect was not statistically significant. Overall, we conclude that the early stages of implementing community policing in Gonzales may have increased fear but had no effect on perceived safety. Later and more robust implementation was associated with a significant increase in perceived safety and possibly a small reduction in fear.