(WITHDRAWN) Police and Civilians' Perceptions of Police-Civilian Interactions

Background and Purpose:

When two people experience an interaction between them differently, conflict can result; when the people in question are police officers and civilians, the consequences of that conflict can be deadly. Previous literature has determined that civilians’ demeanor during an interaction has an effect on the perceptions police hold of them (Nix, 2019). Edwards (2022) stated that civilians’ perceptions of police include themes of fear and intimidation and unjust treatment through nonphysical interactions. The current study examines perceptions held by both police officer and civilian participants of officer-civilian interactions.

Methods:

Participants (N = 36 police officers and 573 civilians) took part in a survey in which they viewed four videos, each showing an interaction between a police officer and a civilian where conflict was present, and answered the questions following each video. Participants evaluated both people on eight traits (e.g. mean, kind, fair, unjust). Participants also indicated whether negative consequences should result (police officer be charged with misconduct, civilian be charged with a crime). In addition to ingroup biases (i.e., police participants viewing police more favorably and vice versa), we hypothesized that civilians who are conservative, Republican, and higher in social dominance orientation (SDO) would perceive police more favorably. We also hypothesized that mismatch between perceptions made by police and civilian participants would predict negative post-interaction outcomes.

Results:

As predicted, ingroup biases were consistently demonstrated; civilians viewed civilian targets more positively than did police, and police viewed police targets more positively than did civilians. Furthermore, in favor of another one of our hypotheses, it was demonstrated that when a civilian viewed a police target more negatively than did the average police perceiver, they were more likely to endorse a misconduct charge. Similarly, when a police perceiver viewed a civilian target more negatively than did the average civilian, they were more likely to endorse criminal charges. SDO was a stronger predictor (βs = .309 - .402) for endorsements of consequences for civilian targets than was political party (βs < .073). Conversely, political party more strongly predicted (βs = .118 - .214) endorsements of consequences for police targets than SDO (βs = .047 - .130).

Conclusions and Implications:

The same event can be perceived very differently by people with different beliefs. These differences can impact the evidence provided by witnesses after the event and may even catalyze serious consequences during the event. Future work will examine objective behaviors rather than subjective traits. One goal of working to understand these differences in perceptions is to help educate and empower communities who are known to face adverse interactions with police.

References

Edwards, T., Sharpe, T.L., Sibblis, C., McPolland, M., Bonomo, A. & DeVylder, J. (2022): Civilian perceptions of police: A thematic analysis of non-physical encounters with law enforcement, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2022.2106001

Nix, J., Pickett, J.T. & Mitchell, R.J. Compliance, noncompliance, and the in-between: causal effects of civilian demeanor on police officers’ cognitions and emotions. J Exp Criminol 15, 611–639 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-019-09363-4