Joseph A. Schafer

Citizen Perceptions of Police Services: Race, Neighborhood Context, and Community Policing:

Studies considering perceptions of the police have traditionally focused on very broad outcome measures (e.g., global views of the police). In an era of community policing, it is imperative to consider how the public perceives the police and police services using measures reflecting this alternative paradigm of policing. In addition, recent research suggests that perceptions of the police are formed within the context of respondents’neighborhood cultures and contexts. This research examines factors predicting citizen perceptions of police services in a Midwestern community, incorporating variables reflecting respondents’ demographic traits, experiences, and neighborhood contexts. The analysis tests the predictive power of these factors using both traditional outcome measures and perceptions of police services based on community-policing criteria. The findings demonstrate the need for multidimensional constructs of citizen perceptions of police services and highlight important dimensions of public perceptions of community policing.

Decision Making in Traffic Stop Encounters: A Multivariate Analysis of Police Behavior

In recent years, there has been a growth in public concern over police decision-making practices during traffic enforcement. Catch phrases such as “racial profiling,” “driving while Black,” and “driving while brown” typify the public’s concern that race and ethnicity have undue influence on police discretion. This study analyzes traffic stop data from a medium-sized midwestern community to better understand this facet of police behavior. Although the authors contend that “proving” racial profiling may be outside of current empirical capabilities, useful insights can still be obtained by examining broader aspects of traffic enforcement behaviors. The analysis indicated that race was powerful in shaping police decision-making patterns, but so were gender, age, and situational considerations. A number of implications for research and policy emerging from the analysis are discussed.

Effective leaders and leadership in policing: traits, assessment, development, and expansion

Purpose – Police leaders and leadership remain understudied within existing criminal justice scholarship. Using data derived from police supervisors participating in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy program, the purpose of this paper is to examine effective leaders and leadership. Specific consideration is given to the traits and habits of effective and ineffective leaders, the assessment of leadership efficacy, the development of leaders, and the barriers to the expansion of more effective leaders and leadership in contemporary policing.Design/methodology/approach – Surveys were administered to over 1,000 police supervisors. Respondents ranked the traits and habits of effective and ineffective leaders, methods to evaluate leadership efficacy, and barriers to the expansion of more effective leaders and leadership. Though a convenience sample, the supervisors represent a diverse mix of police agencies of various sizes and types from around the world.Findings – Ratings suggest resp...

Measuring Homeland Security Innovation in Small Municipal Agencies Policing in a Post—9/11 World

Though homeland security has been the focus of ample rhetoric since the 9/11 attacks, empirical accounts of actual innovations in local American policing have been lacking. This study considers the measurement of homeland security innovations within small municipal departments in the state of Illinois. Using survey data, the analysis examines perceptions of risk, engagement in preparatory measures, and perceptions of response capacities within these small agencies. The analysis also considers whether innovation and associated issues are influenced by being located in the Chicago metropolitan area, an urban county, or a rural county. Results suggest limited differences across these regions, with most differences likely emerging due to variation in respondent’s proximity to larger peer agencies. The results are discussed within the context of extant literature on policing in small agencies and rural communities.

“I’m not against it in theory …”: global and specific community policing attitudes

Community policing has been the focus of considerable research attention and financial support in recent years. Despite extensive inquiry, there are still many unanswered issues surrounding this philosophy of policing. In addition, many studies of community policing have occurred in agencies which have specialized it as a program, rather than broadly generalizing it as a philosophy. This study seeks to overcome limitations in existing research by examining aspects of police attitudes toward community policing and testing the extent to which such attitudes are predicted by demographic and experiential variables. Data are drawn from a Midwestern police agency which was implementing generalized community policing. Results suggest that there is a distinction between global and specific perceptions, however different measures predict such attitudes. The implications of these findings for future research considering community policing attitudes among police officers are also discussed.

Threatened Globally, Acting Locally: Modeling Law Enforcement Homeland Security Practices

The present study examined the effects of institutional pressures on homeland security preparedness among law enforcement agencies in Illinois. The data come from the Illinois Homeland Security Survey (IHSS). Specifically, the study employed three theories to explain homeland security preparedness: contingency theory, resource dependence theory, and institutional theory. We hypothesized that institutional pressures will lead to isomorphism as agencies attempt to conform to institutional expectations about appropriate activities in a homeland security era. To evaluate these theories and their impact on homeland security practices, the authors used confirmatory factor analysis. The IHSS data lend strong support to the application of organizational theory as a lens through which homeland security preparedness can be understood. Institutional pressures, such as professional and government publications, training, professional associations, and the actions of peer agencies, significantly influenced municipal and county agencies in Illinois. Funding, while often thought important to encourage preparedness, was not a significant predictor. The results of this analysis advance our understanding of homeland security preparedness via institutional theory by suggesting that the larger environment is salient.

First‐line supervisor's perceptions of police integrity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine supervisor perceptions of police integrity situations using the measurement of police integrity instrument. Additional survey questions focused on aspects of integrity of particular relevance within the study agency. The latter concerned that agencys on‐going legal arrangement with the federal government to address alleged sub‐standard patterns and practices of officer/agency performance.Design/methodology/approach – In total, 478 sergeants and lieutenants from the study agency completed the survey instrument. This represented 97 percent of those asked to complete the instrument and approximately 60 percent of first‐line supervisors.Findings – The results paralleled some aspects found in prior research, in particular that respondents cast themselves as having stronger integrity than their peers. Findings also illustrated potential weaknesses in efforts to enhance police integrity in light of federal intervention in the study agency.Research limitations/im...

Homeland Security in the Heartland Risk, Preparedness, and Organizational Capacity

This study examines the perceived risk of a terrorist attack, terrorism preparedness activities, and organizational capacity in over 500 Illinois law enforcement agencies. Survey results show that the perceived risk of an attack is relatively low but organizations are taking steps to prepare for large-scale emergencies. The study also found that perceptions of risk predicted the level of preparedness activities and that an organizational leaders confidence in his or her organizations ability to respond to a terrorist incident is influenced by the number of preparedness measures taken. Implications of the research are explored.

Policing Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Areas and Small Towns: Policies, Practices, and Perceptions

The extant literature has given only limited consideration to the adoption of intimate partner violence policies and procedures on the part of police organizations, particularly in rural areas and small towns. Using survey data from police agencies in the southern regions of Illinois, this study found that although policies were nearly universal, specific elements varied. Agencies relied heavily on conferences and other departments in formulating their policies, making less use of recommendations from professional associations or the salient literature. The findings suggest variation in how intimate partner violence is perceived and policed in rural areas and small towns while highlighting some of the challenges agencies encounter in addressing this offense within their jurisdictions.

Negotiating order in the policing of youth drinking

Purpose – Field studies of police behavior have tended to focus on the generalized patrol function in major urban areas. Largely absent from this body of literature are considerations of specialized units, particularly in smaller communities. Studies of police discretion often center on the arrest decision, giving less attention to other aspects of sanctioning discretion. This study seeks to examine how police officers in a mid‐western college community used leniency and coercion to negotiate order in policing the consumption of alcohol by college‐aged youth.Design/methodology/approach – Field observations and interviews were used to study decision‐making patterns among both general patrol officers and personnel assigned to a specialized unit tasked with patrolling alcohol establishments.Findings – Findings suggested that officers employed leniency in variable patterns, primarily based on duty assignment. At the same time, citizen demeanor was often a key in shaping sanctioning outcomes in alcohol‐enforce...