Under-policing and apprehensiveness toward stopping minorities across white and nonwhite officers post-Ferguson

Abstract

This pilot study examines police patrol activity, specifically engagement in under-policing, and investigatory-apprehensiveness toward minorities across White and nonwhite patrol officers in the context of policing post-Ferguson. Using a sample of unranked, patrol-duty officers in the United States (n = 887) from an online survey a series of multivariate binary logistic models suggest that although departmental and officer level variables can predict the likelihood of practicing under-policing and being apprehensive toward stopping minorities, various contextual post-Ferguson variables beyond de-policing also matter. Further, predictors of under-policing and apprehensiveness toward stopping minorities are different across White and nonwhite patrol officers. Results suggest the post-Ferguson period appears to have made an impression on patrol officers’ behaviors.

Keywords:

• Ferguson-Effect
• police behavior
• police psychology
• policing
• race

Notes

1 Random sampling could not be completed due to a nonactive membership roster.

2 The first asked “Are you a sworn law enforcement member [of PoliceOne.com]?” (Yes, No. The second asked “Which best describes the law enforcement agency you work for?” with responses State Police (1), Local Police (2), Local Sheriff (3), Campus Police (4), Federal Law Enforcement (5), and Other (6).

3 LEMAS does not account for campus law enforcement agencies, and we present data based on full-time sworn personnel only.

4 While not strong internal consistency of the community policing measure is consistent with that found in previous studies using similar items (Bossler & Holt, 2013; Bromley & Cochran, 1999; Moon et al., 2005; Adams, Rohe, & Arcury, 2002; Uluturk, Guler, & Karakaya, 2017).

5 Preliminary tests were also conducted to gauge whether the proportional-odds assumption was violated given the measurement of dependent variable was ordinal (see Williams, 2006). Three variables– willingness to work with minorities, under-policing, and community policing orientation – for models predicting minority apprehensiveness among Whites in Table 2 marginally violated the parallel-lines assumption. Using generalized ordered logit was then used to check the robustness of results. Modest violation of the proportional-odds model did not bias results and left substantive conclusions unchanged. For ease of interpreting the odds of practicing under-policing and of being apprehensive about stopping minorities findings are reported from binary logistic models. Twenty-nine individuals had missing data on the key analysis variables which left a final analytic sample of 887 individuals. We accommodated missing values using listwise deletion (Allison, 2010) because individuals with missing data comprised 3.93% of the analytic sample.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jose Torres

Jose Torres is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Louisiana State University (LSU). Areas of research interest include capturing policing practices as part of the shadow carceral state, impacts on policing post-Ferguson, and policing in an era of legalized recreational marijuana. Publications include articles in Criminology and Public Policy, Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, American Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, and Policing and Society. He holds a B.A. in Sociology and M.A. in Criminal Justice from Norfolk State University, and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.

Timothy Reling

Timothy T. Reling is a Research Associate at the Louisiana State University Social Research and Evaluation Center. His research examines socio-cultural determinants of sexual violence on college campuses. His recent publications appear in Sex Roles, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Urban Studies, and Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology.