Citizen Resistance of Police Officers: A contemporary examination

• In Event: Police Officers on the Job: Issues and Challenges

Abstract

The extent to which citizens resist police coercive authority is an important area of research. Gaining compliance from citizens is an overarching goal of officers, and a mandate of their broadly defined legal authority. Failure to comply may be manifested in several ways, with physical resistance being among the more severe. Physical resistance by citizens is often tied to potential negative outcomes such as officer injuries, lower morale, and police use of force. Despite the importance of this topic, little contemporary research has focused on predicting higher levels of citizen resistance. Drawing on data collected as part of the Assessing Police Use of Force Policy and Outcomes study, this research intends to advance the existing knowledge of citizen resistance of police officers.

Author

• Michael Travis Rossler, Michigan State University