Jeff Rojek

The Influence of Driver's Race on Traffic Stops in Missouri

A small but growing body of research has produced several consistent findings regarding race and ethnic differences in traffic stops, searches, and arrests. However, prior research has not adequately addressed the potential bias associated with the use of residential population data to estimate the racial composition of the drivers in local areas. The authors present a new method of imputing the racial composition of drivers in a given locality based on the size and composition of nearby areas. Applying the method to traffic-stop data for 92 Missouri municipalities, the authors produce more accurate estimates than those based on residential population data of racial disproportionality in traffic stops for several suburban areas surrounding the city of St. Louis. Nonetheless, they find small but persistent group differences in the probability of being pulled over by the police for the 92 municipalities and larger differences in the probability of being searched and arrested.

Trust in the Police The Influence of Procedural Justice and Perceived Collective Efficacy

Tyler’s process-based model of policing suggests that the police can enhance their perceived legitimacy and trustworthiness in the eyes of the public when they exercise their authority in a procedurally fair manner. To date, most process-based research has focused on the sources of legitimacy while largely overlooking trust in the police. The present study extends this line of literature by examining the sources of trust in the police. In particular, emerging research has revealed that neighborhood context influences attitudes toward the police but much less attention has been given to exploring the role individuals’ perceptions of their neighborhood play in shaping such evaluations. Therefore, the present study considers whether individuals’ perceptions of collective efficacy serve as a social-psychological cognitive orientation that influences levels of trust in the police. Using data from a recently conducted mail survey of a random sample of 1,681 residents from a metropolitan city, we find that procedural justice evaluations are a primary source of trust in the police. At the same time, however, level of perceived collective efficacy is positively associated with trust even after accounting for procedural justice. The findings suggest that police procedural fairness is vitally important to establishing trust from the public but peoples’ cognitive orientation toward their neighborhood context partially shapes the level of trustworthiness they afford to the police.

The impact of conducted energy devices and other types of force and resistance on officer and suspect injuries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of police use of conducted energy devices (CEDs) on officer and suspect injuries while controlling for other types of force and resistance and other factors.Design/methodology/approach – Data on 1,645 use‐of‐force incidents occurring between January 1, 2002 and July 2006 were obtained from two different law enforcement agencies. Logistic and generalized ordered logistic regressions are used to model the odds of injury and severity of injury.Findings – The use of CEDs was associated with reduced odds of officer and suspect injury and the severity of suspect injury in one agency. In the other agency CED use was unrelated to the odds of injury; however, the use of pepper spray was associated with reduced odds of suspect injury. Among other findings, in both agencies the use of hands‐on tactics by police was associated with increased odds of officer and suspect injury, while the use of canines was associated with increased odds of suspect injury.Res...

The Prevalence and Characteristics of Police Practitioner–Researcher Partnerships:

Consistent with the current models of governance in public sector organizations, there have been an increasing number of advocates within the law enforcement community calling for agencies to participate in partnerships with researchers. Despite this support, little is known about the prevalence of police practitioner–researcher partnerships, nor has there been any examination into which agencies participate in partnerships with researchers or the reasons why agencies do not participate. The present study addresses these gaps in knowledge by reporting on findings from a national survey of law enforcement agencies on research partnership participation. The results reveal nearly one third of responding agencies reported they had participated in a research partnership within the last 5 years. The most common reason provided for not participating in these relationships was a lack of funding resources. Discussion on the future expansion of police practitioner–researcher partnerships in light of these findings is provided

Age Matters: Race Differences in Police Searches of Young and Older Male Drivers

Prior research on police searches of motorists has consistently found that Black drivers are more likely to be searched than White drivers. The authors argue that race differences in police searches depend on the driver’s age. In logistic regression and propensity-score matching analyses of St. Louis police traffic stops, the authors find that young Black males are subjected to discretionary searches at higher rates than are young White males. By contrast, among drivers age 30 and older, Black males are no more likely, and in some analyses are less likely, than White males to be subjected to a discretionary search. The study findings are consistent with studies of young Black males’ negative experience with and attitudes toward the police. If replicated in future research, however, the findings suggest that it may be difficult to prove that police searches of young Black males result primarily from racial bias or unlawful discrimination.

Examining Officer and Citizen Accounts of Police Use-of-Force Incidents

This study contributes to the body of knowledge of police–citizen contacts by investigating perceptions and behaviors during encounters that result in physical resistance and force. The authors use the accounts literature as a way to understand police–citizen interactions. The data include interviews with citizens who resisted or were accused of resisting lawful police commands and those officers who used force to control these citizens. The goals are to understand the dynamics of police–citizen interactions that use force, to make sense of the actors’ perspectives, and, finally, to examine the processes within the deference–resistance continuum. The data show that officers and citizens focus on different issues when interacting and justify their behavior by the identification and maintenance of their self-prescribed roles.

Examining Racial Disparity in the Police Discipline Process

This article examines the police discipline process of a large police department for patterns of disparity in the treatment of minority officers.The analysis is based on 5 years of data collected from the internal affairs division of the department, which captures information on formally documented complaints, determinations of allegations of guilt, and penalties applied. The analysis reveals that minority officers are overrepresented in formally documented complaints, specifically in complaints initiated by other department officers and supervisors. However, analysis utilizing logistic regression finds that officer race is not a significant factor in determining guilt or degree of penalty applied. The implications of these findings and considerations for future research are discussed.

A Decade of Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing: Characteristics of the Goldstein Award Winners

Each year, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) accepts nominations for the prestigious Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing. This article examines problem-oriented initiatives that have been selected by PERF as innovations deserving recognition. The authors review the characteristics of these projects beginning in 1993, the inaugural year of the Goldstein Award. They review such characteristics as the nature of the problem, the nature of the intervention, and the integration of SARA (scanning, analysis, response, & assessment) model principles. These characteristics are examined to provide insight into what is being presented as innovative, award-winning practices in problem-oriented policing. The responses examined are framed in the context of programmatic and techniquelevel innovations. Discussion is given to the prospect of these innovative approaches becoming institutional practices.

A Quantum of Force: The Consequences of Counting Routine Conducted Energy Weapon Punctures as Injuries

In a recent paper, researchers reported increases in the risk of citizen injury associated with police use of conducted energy devices (CEWs), a finding that is contrary to that reported in most previous studies. These authors speculate that the differences in findings when compared to other similar studies may be due, in part, to the exclusion of routine CEW dart punctures as injuries by other researchers, and they called on the research community to collectively agree on how CEW injuries should be operationalized. In this paper, we empirically demonstrate the differences in findings when routine CEW puncture wounds are included as citizen injuries and when they are not. Ultimately, we reject the authors’ measurement approach as inconsistent with how injuries associated with other types of force are routinely coded and measured.

Citizen oversight in the United States and Canada: an overview

Police misconduct and corruption have the potential to erode public trust and confidence in both policing and government agencies. Repeat accounts of law enforcement officials engaging in deviant acts have prompted greater citizen involvement in the review of officer behavior. However, citizen oversight has had a contentious history in both the USA and Canada, with most challenges expressed by law enforcement officers whose behavior often comes under scrutiny. This article provides a review of how citizen oversight has evolved in both nations, as well as an examination of contemporary models of this accountability practice. This review reveals that operational differences exist between the different oversight models and that external factors such as political, police, and public support, as well as budgetary considerations also impact the procedural outcomes of citizen oversight. We conclude with a discussion of the future prospects and challenges to citizen oversight of the police.