Democratic Policing: Perspectives from the Rust Belt

• In Event: Law Enforcement and Immigration Administration

Abstract

The frequency of and media attention to police use of lethal force in some high profile cases have fueled conflict throughout the US and highlight patterns of bias in policing that negatively impact the police and the public in a democratic society. Although these incidents are not equally likely in all jurisdictions, they are undermining the legitimacy of the police and making police work more dangerous and contentious irrespective of the performance of any given policing agency. Recent attention to policing practices provides an opportunity for the study of bias reduction and police legitimacy to make critical contributions to democratic policing. This research offers law enforcement a better understanding of community expectations and helps communities better understand the complexities of law enforcement. This study addresses a series of questions including the following: Among both police officers and the general public, are there disjunctions between explicit and implicit beliefs about the appropriateness of different types of policing? How do public vs. officer perceptions of the mission and duties of the police diverge? Do these potential disjunctions influence perceptions of police legitimacy and responses to police action? And, most importantly, do these diverging assumptions help us to understand biases in the use of force and issues of trust within the community toward police? This project is essential to understanding how police and community perceptions may vary and how those variations impact policing practices and perceptions of legitimacy in a democratic context. The analyses of semi-structured interviews and focus groups indicates that there are pervasive race-gendered disjunctures with respect to the expectations of and experiences with the police, which also present opportunities for enhancing police-public relations. The findings also suggest that untreated mental illness is complicating police actions, and both the police and public understand the institutional constraints but have inconsistent views regarding potential policies to address mental health as a public health issue rather than criminal issue.

Author

• Holona LeAnne Ochs, Lehigh University