Examining Correlates of Anti-Police Website Visitation

• In Event: Media, Police, and the Public

Abstract

The current legitimacy crisis faced by American law enforcement is directly attributable to citizen journalism. New technologies like smart phones allow for the recording of interactions between the police and members of the public, and for the uploading of these videos to the Internet. Videos depicting negative police-citizen encounters can now be found on social media, blogs, and websites dedicated to the distribution of anti-police material. The current study examines individual factors contributing to viewing these websites. Drawing from theories of selective exposure, police legitimacy, and code of the street, the current study examines viewership among a large sample of college students. Implications for theory and police are discussed.

Authors

• Scott F Allen, University of South Florida

• Richard Moule Jr, University of South Florida

• Megan M Parry, University of Rhode Island

• Lisa M Dario, Florida Atlantic University