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Article
Publication date: 10 August 2023

Yung-Lien Lai, Fei Luo, Chia-Cheng Kang and Tzu-Ying Lo

While a substantial amount of research has been conducted in western societies exploring public attitudes toward police (ATP) among immigrants in recent decades, the question of…

Abstract

Purpose

While a substantial amount of research has been conducted in western societies exploring public attitudes toward police (ATP) among immigrants in recent decades, the question of how recently arrived immigrants view the police in Asian societies has been largely overlooked. This study aims to explore Southeast Asian immigrants' ATP in Taiwan and how assimilation, discrimination, affirmation, procedural justice, bifocal lenses and contact experiences – viewed simultaneously – impact their perceptions.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a combination of convenience and snowball sampling methods, a total of 579 completed survey responses were collected in Taiwan with a response rate of 89%. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to examine key factors that impact immigrants' attitudes toward the Taiwanese police.

Findings

The findings suggest that procedural justice and assimilation are two robust and direct predictors of immigrants' attitudes toward Taiwanese police. Immigrants from Southeast Asian countries who perceive that they have been treated fairly by Taiwan police tended to report more positive ATP. Likewise, higher levels of assimilation boosted confidence in the police. In addition, both nationality and marital status had a significant impact on perceptions of the police.

Originality/value

This pioneering study examines immigrants' ATP among four groups of Southeast Asians in Taiwan —namely, immigrants from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. The use of SEM strengthens the robustness of the findings derived from this study.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 November 2023

Dae-Young Kim and Scott W. Phillips

The present study examines the risk of citizens encountering police use of intermediate and deadly force, as opposed to using physical force, given a set of individual…

Abstract

Purpose

The present study examines the risk of citizens encountering police use of intermediate and deadly force, as opposed to using physical force, given a set of individual, situational and neighborhood variables.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses data from 2003 to 2016 in the Dallas Open Data Portal. Two-level multinomial logistic regression is used to analyze the data.

Findings

The effects of citizen race differ across the types of police force. Overall, citizen race plays no significant role in the officer's decision to shoot firearms at citizens. However, there is evidence of intra-racial disparity in officer-involved shootings (OISs) between Hispanic citizens and officers. African American citizens are disproportionately exposed to display-but-don't shoot incidents, while Hispanic citizens have a lower risk of encountering police use of intermediate weapons.

Originality/value

The study helps to understand how citizen and officer race influence and interact across various types of police force. Implications of the results are offered in relation to relevant literature.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 47 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2023

Hyeyoung Lim, Brian Lawton and John J. Sloan

This article aims to synthesize published research on the policing of Asian communities in the United States.

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to synthesize published research on the policing of Asian communities in the United States.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a systematic literature review using PRISMA 2020 guidelines.

Findings

Sixteen studies were reviewed. Five examined violence by police against Asian community members and reported rates for Asians closer to those against Whites than against members of other groups. One study found no relationship between violence against police and increased minority representation on the force. Four studies reported conflicting results regarding traffic stops of Asian motorists and in general perceptions of police anti-Asian bias. One study illustrated how racialization processes reproduce inequality both between racial-ethnic categories and within them. Five studies examined Asian community members’ general attitudes toward/satisfaction with police and reported—with qualifications—generally favorable attitudes and satisfaction with them.

Originality/value

This is the first systematic literature review of policing Asian communities in the United States.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 March 2023

Stephanie Van Ha and Ivan Sun

The purpose of this paper is to examine Asian Americans' perceptions of the police, specifically how they construct support. Although such literature has been growing in recent…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine Asian Americans' perceptions of the police, specifically how they construct support. Although such literature has been growing in recent years, research on Asian American interactions with the police remains limited. Additionally, this paper is situated within the theoretical framework of system justification theory to account for Asian Americans' views of the police.

Design/methodology/approach

This study relies on interview data collected from 20 Asian Americans residing in mid-Atlantic states. Participants were either recruited directly by the researchers or through the snowball-sampling method.

Findings

Police support is influenced by perception of neighborhood safety, personal police contact and empathetic feelings toward the police. Specifically, regarding the latter component, humanizing or empathizing with police officers is a form of rationalizing individual police misconduct that reinforced police legitimacy. Most participants had similar characteristics and displayed police justification. Additional research is needed regarding what characteristics or patterns are likely to lead to lower levels of police justification.

Originality/value

This article's findings improve our understanding of system justification among Asian Americans, particularly as it relates to policing.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 47 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Robert J. Kane, Jordan M. Hyatt and Matthew J. Teti

The paper examines the historical shifts in policing strategies towards individuals with SMI and vulnerable populations, highlighting the development of co-response models…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper examines the historical shifts in policing strategies towards individuals with SMI and vulnerable populations, highlighting the development of co-response models, introducing the concept of “untethered” co-response.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducts a review of literature to trace the evolution of police responses to individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and vulnerable populations. It categorizes four generations of police approaches—zero-policing, over-policing, crisis intervention and co-response—and introduces a fifth generation, the “untethered” co-response model exemplified by Project SCOPE in Philadelphia.

Findings

The review identifies historical patterns of police response to SMI individuals, emphasizing the challenges and consequences associated with over-policing. It outlines the evolution from crisis intervention teams to co-response models and introduces Project SCOPE as an innovative “untethered” co-response approach.

Research limitations/implications

The research acknowledges the challenges in evaluating the effectiveness of crisis intervention teams and co-response models due to variations in implementation and limited standardized models. It emphasizes the need for more rigorous research, including randomized controlled trials, to substantiate claims about the effectiveness of these models.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that the “untethered” co-response model, exemplified by Project SCOPE, has the potential to positively impact criminal justice and social service outcomes for vulnerable populations. It encourages ongoing policy and evaluative research to inform evidence-based practice and mitigate collateral harms associated with policing responses.

Social implications

Given the rising interactions between police and individuals with mental health issues, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the paper highlights the urgency for innovative, non-policing-driven responses to vulnerable persons.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the literature by proposing a fifth generation of police response to vulnerable persons, the “untethered” co-response model and presenting Project SCOPE as a practical example.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2024

Andrew Wooff

This paper explores the challenging nexus of police custody, risk and intra-organisational boundaries in the context of a recently reformed national police service. Police custody…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the challenging nexus of police custody, risk and intra-organisational boundaries in the context of a recently reformed national police service. Police custody is an often-hidden aspect of policing, away from the public gaze and scrutiny. Although there is increasing recognition of the importance of rural policing (e.g. Harkness (2020); Mawby and Yarwood (2011); Ruddell and Jones (2020); Yarwood and Wooff (2016)), there has been little or no focus on rural police custody. This paper seeks to begin to redress this by focussing on the challenges faced by rural police custody in the context of large-scale organisational change.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on data from a study funded by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (2016–2018), entitled “Measuring Risk and Efficiency in Police Custody in Scotland”. The paper adopts a qualitative methodology to develop an understanding of the varying nature of police custody across Scotland. Two contrasting case study locations were selected, one urban and one rural. 12 semi-structured interviews and 15 hours of observation were carried out. Data was transcribed, coded and analysed and thematic analysis enabled themes to be developed. This paper draws on the data from the rural custody suite.

Findings

Drawing on the theoretical framework of Giacomantonio (2014) and more recent considerations of abstract policing Terpstra et al. (2019), this paper offers insights into the ways that police custody in rural Scotland has been organised, against the backdrop of challenging organisational change. I argue that as policing services in Scotland have become increasingly “abstract” from communities, police custody as a national division has witnessed the impact of this more greatly than other parts of local policing. Intra-organisational management around staffing has led to complex management of risk, illustrating some of the challenges of national organisational change on police custody.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on the impact of large scale organisational change on rural police custody and intra-organisational relationships and dynamics. Rural policing is still a largely neglected area of study and rural police custody is even less understood. This paper therefore provides an original contribution by focusing on this under-researched area of policing. It also illustrates complexity around risk, staffing and management of people being held in rural police custody suites. It is therefore of value to policing scholars in other contexts, as well as rural criminology more generally. It has applicability to international contexts where macro level policing reform is occurring.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2024

Sanja Kutnjak Ivković, Marijana Kotlaja, Yang Liu, Peter Neyroud, Irena Cajner Mraović, Krunoslav Borovec and Jon Maskály

We explore the relationship between urbanicity and police officers’ perceptions of changes in their reactive and proactive work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Purpose

We explore the relationship between urbanicity and police officers’ perceptions of changes in their reactive and proactive work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the 2021 survey of 1,262 Croatian police offices (436 police officers from a large urban community, 471 police officers from small towns and 155 from rural communities), we examine the perceived changes in their reactive activities (e.g. responses to the calls for service, arrests for minor crimes) and proactive activities (e.g. community policing activities, directed patrols) during the peak month of the pandemic compared to before the pandemic.

Findings

The majority of police officers in the study, regardless of the size of the community where they lived, reported no changes before and during the pandemic in reactive and proactive activities. Police officers from urban communities and small towns were more likely to note an increase in domestic violence calls for service. Police officers from urban communities were also more likely than the respondents from small towns and rural communities to report an increase in the responses to the disturbances of public order. Finally, police officers from small communities were most likely to observe a change in the frequency of traffic stops during the pandemic.

Originality/value

This study is the first one to explore the differences in perceptions of COVID-19-related changes in reactive and proactive police activities in a centralized police system.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2024

Michael K. Dzordzormenyoh, Claudia Dzordzormenyoh and Jerry Dogbey-Gakpetor

The COVID-19 pandemic provides researchers and practitioners with an opportunity to examine the effect of emergency policing on public trust in the police and augment our…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic provides researchers and practitioners with an opportunity to examine the effect of emergency policing on public trust in the police and augment our understanding. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of police enforcement of COVID-19 health measures on public trust in the police in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

A multivariate binary logistic regression was utilized to assess the effect of police enforcement of COVID-19 health measures on public trust in the police in Ghana using national representative data.

Findings

Our analysis suggests that emergency policing positively influences public trust in the police in Ghana. Additionally, we observed that police-related issues such as corruption and professionalism, as well as demographic factors of the public, influence trust in the police. These observations are helpful for emergency policing and policy development in Ghana.

Originality/value

This study is unique because it uses national representative data to assess the effect of police enforcement of COVID-19 health measures on public trust in the police in Ghana. Furthermore, this study is among the first or among the few from Ghana and the sub-region to examine the nexus between health emergencies and policing.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 February 2024

Ian Pepper, Carol Cox, Ruth Fee, Shane Horgan, Rod Jarman, Matthew Jones, Nicoletta Policek, Colin Rogers and Clive Tattum

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education in the UK focuses on maintaining, enhancing and standardising the quality of higher education. Of significant impact are…

Abstract

Purpose

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education in the UK focuses on maintaining, enhancing and standardising the quality of higher education. Of significant impact are the development of subject benchmark statements (SBS) by the QAA, which describe the type and content of study along with the academic standards expected of graduates in specific disciplines. Prior to 2022, the QAA did not have a SBS to which higher education policing programmes could be directly aligned.

Design/methodology/approach

Over 12-months, a SBS advisory group with representatives from higher education across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, The College of Policing, QAA, Police Federation of England and Wales and policing, worked in partnership to harness their collective professional experience and knowledge to create the first UK SBS for policing. Post publication of the SBS, permission was sought and granted from both the College of Policing and QAA for members of the advisory group to reflect in an article on their experiences of collaborating and working in partnership to achieve the SBS.

Findings

There is great importance of creating a shared vision and mutual trust, developed through open facilitated discussions, with representatives championing their cause and developing a collaborative and partnership approach to completing the SBS.

Practical implications

A collaborative and partnership approach is essential in developing and recognising the academic discipline of policing. This necessarily requires the joint development of initiatives, one of which is the coming together of higher education institutions, PSRBs and practitioner groups to collaborate and design QAA benchmark statements.

Social implications

The SBS advisory group has further driven forward the emergence of policing as a recognised academic discipline to benefit multiple stakeholders.

Originality/value

The SBS for policing is the first across the UK. The authors experiences can be used to assist others in their developments of similar subject specific benchmarking or academic quality standards.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 December 2023

Ian Pepper, Colin Rogers and James Turner

First-line leaders across the emergency services are instrumental in leading the development of a workforce fit to face current and future challenges. As such in addition to…

Abstract

Purpose

First-line leaders across the emergency services are instrumental in leading the development of a workforce fit to face current and future challenges. As such in addition to utilising their specific craft, leaders need to be equipped to understand and apply evidence-based practices. With a focus on first-line leadership in policing, this paper will have both national and international resonance for those organisations attempting to embed an evidence-based culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilises a review of literature to develop a viewpoint identifying challenges and benefits of the adoption of evidence-based policing (EBP) by first-line leaders.

Findings

First-line leaders, whether police officers, police staff or volunteers, require opportunities to develop their own knowledge, understanding and skills of applying EBP in the workplace. Acknowledging challenges exist in the widespread adoption of EBP, such learning, at the appropriate educational level, will enable leaders to effectively champion the adoption of EBP, informing both their own decision-making and professional practices as well as those across their teams.

Practical implications

The first-line leader role is highly influential, as such, it is essential that these leaders develop their knowledge, understanding and application of EBP in the workplace in order to lead the expected cultural change.

Originality/value

This paper provides a current framework for the understanding of the context and potential impact of educationally levelled formal leadership learning required to champion the broad adoption of EBP across policing.

Details

International Journal of Emergency Services, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2047-0894

Keywords

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