High-Visibility Vests in Public Environments: A Randomized Field Trial of Public-Police Engagement

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

Recent research has documented the effects of uniform aesthetics on perceptions of police officers. Indeed, Simpson observed that the mere presence of high-visibility vests enhanced perceptions of officers as part of his experiment, titled the Police Officer Perception Project (POPP; Simpson, 2017). No known research, however, has empirically examined the effects of high-visibility vests on public-police engagement in a real-world environment. The present research, therefore, employs a novel experimental strategy in order to assess the effects of high-visibility vests on public-police engagement. Using shifts as our unit of analysis, we randomly assign participating officers to wear (or not wear) their high-visibility vests. During each shift, we measure officers’ numbers, and types, of engagements with the public. Controlling for environment- and occupation-related variables, we then evaluate the effects of such vests on engagement during otherwise “business-as-usual” conditions. We discuss our findings with respect to police visibility and public-police relations.

Authors

• Rylan Simpson, University of California, Irvine

• Justin Biggs, South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service