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Culhane, S. E., Boman, J. H., & Schweitzer, K. (2016). Public perceptions of the justifiability of police shootings: The role of body cameras in a pre- and post-Ferguson experiment. Police Quarterly, 19(3), 251–274.

Abstract: We conducted two studies, wherein participants from across the United States watched, heard, or read the transcript of an actual police shooting event. The data for Study 1 were collected prior to media coverage of a widely publicized police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Results indicated that participants who could hear or see the event were significantly more likely to perceive the shooting was justified than they were when they read a transcript of the encounter. Shortly after the events in Ferguson, Missouri, we replicated the first study, finding quite different results. Although dissatisfaction with the shooting was seen in all forms of presentation, video evidence produced the highest citizen perceptions of an unjustified shooting and audio evidence produced the least. Citizens were nonetheless overwhelmingly favorable to requiring police to use body cameras. Body-mounted cameras with high-quality audio capabilities are recommended for police departments to consider.

Questions to Consider:

1. An actual video of a fatal police-involved shooting served as the experimental condition in the study. Do you believe the source of the video footage makes a difference when it comes to citizen attitudes (e.g., the justifiability of police actions)? For instance, do you believe that citizens attach more, less, or equal weight to body-worn camera footage of a police–citizen contact than they do to bystander footage of contacts? Explain.
    

Mastrofski, S. D., Snipes, J. B., & Supina, A. E. (1996). Compliance on demand: The public’s response to specific police requests. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 33, 269–305.

Abstract: Police often attempt to restore order and prevent illegal activity by calling on citizens to alter their behavior. Achieving compliance in these circumstances is an important test of officers’ skills and an essential element of effective governance. This article assesses citizen compliance with specific police requests for orderly, legal behavior in 346 encounters observed in Richmond, Virginia. Citizens were compliant in 78% of the encounters. The effects on compliance of several potential influences are estimated in a logistic regression model: instrumental factors concerning the calculation of outcomes for the citizens, factors about the legitimacy of the police intervention, personal characteristics reflecting the citizens’ social status and predisposition to compliance, and the officers’ skill and work orientation. Significant effects are found in each category of variables, but the results are in some cases contrary to expectations. Legitimating factors, citizens’ social status, and police skill and work orientation show particularly strong effects. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Questions to Consider:

1. In recent years, the public, the media, and policy makers have expressed considerable concern about police use of force, particularly deadly force. Given the results of the study, how might police officers be trained so that citizen compliance is more likely?
    

Terrill, W. (2003). Police use of force and suspect resistance: The micro process of the police–suspect encounter. Police Quarterly, 6(1), 51–83.

Abstract: Using data collected as part of an observational study of the police in Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Petersburg, Florida, this research examines 3,544 police–suspect encounters in an attempt to better understand the application of nonlethal force and the relationship between officer use of force and suspect resistance. More specifically, it examines the extent of and variation in force and resistance and the interplay between the two. Results show that when both verbal and physical forms of coercion are considered, force occurs quite frequently—in more than half of all encounters. Conversely, suspects displayed some form of resistance in 12% of all encounters. When multiple uses of force and resistance within individual encounters are considered, the frequency of both behaviors increases substantially. In addition, a majority of both forceful and resistant behaviors fall on the lower end of continuum (e.g., verbal commands as opposed to striking with a baton). Encounters that began with some form of force resulted in a greater frequency of subsequent suspect resistance and an increased use of additional force at some later point in the encounters—calling into question the utility of a “take charge” approach to maintaining control within police–suspect encounters.

Questions to Consider:

1. If police encounters are dynamic, and the interaction between officer and citizen matters in shaping the behavior of both parties, how should officers approach suspects to ensure their own safety and citizen compliance without increasing the likelihood of resistance? How should these outcomes be balanced?