Impact of Handling the Ferguson Unrest on Officers’ Motivation, Proactivity, and Use of Force

• In Event: Organizational Justice, Police Attitudes, and Work-Related Outcomes

Abstract

The last few years have birthed focused public attention and outrage in the wake of multiple high profile police shootings, resulting in several ambush killings of police officers, public riots, and racial discord in the U.S. Scholars have questioned the impact on policing; raising concerns about de-policing, police motivations, and a widening gap between the public and police. While events have undoubtedly impacted police nationally, as social and news media make the issue palpable to us all, the greatest impact likely is felt among officers who lived the experiences. This study examines how personally handling the civil unrest in Ferguson, MO and negative publicity surrounding it impacted officers’ motivation, self-reported proactivity, apprehension about using force, desire to work in the community where the unrest occurred, and enjoyment in having a law enforcement career. Since Wolfe and Nix (2016) found in their sample of officers uninvolved in the Ferguson events that greater self-legitimacy and organizational justice mediated the influence of negative publicity on officers’ willingness to partner with the community, I examine whether these factors also provide some protection among officers in this sample.

Author

• Tammy Rinehart Kochel, Southern Illinois University