Perceptions of Neighborhood Informal Social Control in the Aftermath of Police Killings

• In Event: 21009 - Policing & Surveillance

Abstract

We investigate the impact of lethal police violence on perceptions of neighborhood informal social control in the months following police killings in Columbus, Ohio. Drawing on data from the 2014-16 Adolescent Health and Development in Context study on a sample of caregivers of Black youth, we find that perceptions that neighbors will intervene in events with an increased likelihood of drawing police presence (e.g., intervening in violent altercations) decrease in the 2 to 3-month period after a police killing of a Black victim. This effect holds net of a range of controls (including census tract fixed effects). In contrast, perceptions that neighbors will intervene in activities with lower likelihood of involving police (e.g., disciplining youth who are skipping school) show no evidence of change in the aftermath of police killings. In models of perceptions of willingness to intervene at routine activity locations, reports in the 2 to 4 months after a police killing are also significantly lower. We consider implications for understanding criminal legal system effects on neighborhood social organization.

Authors

• Christopher R Browning, The Ohio State University

• Rebecca Shankman, Ohio State University

• Havana Mohr-Ramirez, Ohio State University

• Bethany Boettner, Ohio State University

• Nicolo P Pinchak, University of Chicago

• Catherine A. Calder, The University of Texas at Austin