It’s Complicated or Is it?: Public Attributions of Police Misconduct

• In Event: Police and Public Perceptions of Police Misconduct

Abstract

Recent police behavior has come under scrutiny, leading to reformers demanding redress for police misconduct. Notably, policy recommendations for addressing this vary widely. At the heart of this variation is alleged source what causes this misconduct. Is it a result of poor training, low education, peer pressure, racism, or something else? What’s more, are these causes able to be addressed, or are officers destined to repeat this behavior? Using a national-level YouGov sample, this study sought to understand what the public thought caused police misconduct in the United States. Results indicate that the public falls roughly into two camps—in one, police misconduct is attributed to multiple complex issues, in the other, it is attributed to public hostility and low salaries. The sociodemographic characteristics of these two groups are also explored. Results of this study have practical implications for police accountability and reform as well as police-community relations.

Authors

• Amanda Graham, Georgia Southern University

• Justin T. Pickett, University at Albany, SUNY

• Francis T. Cullen, University of Cincinnati