Discussing Police Officers' Perceptions on Citizens' Attitudes

Introduction

Police officers’ perceptions about citizen demeanor is essential in understanding the use of discretion in police-citizen interactions.  Many assumptions exist about this topic and distort the reality of the events that cause police officers to perform citations, arrests, or other mechanisms that they have the authority to deliver.  Specifically, many claims about racial and ethnic biases and unnecessary interventions exist in these interactions between police officers and civilians (Engel, Klahm, & Tillyer, 2010; Engel, Tillyer, Klahm, & Frank, 2012).  However, there is a large body of literature that infers that police officers’ perceptions about citizen demeanor during encounters is the main variable for the type of discretion that is used (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Interestingly, the demeanor concept has many variations from police officer-to-police officer and can even change again when citizens explain their understanding of appropriate behavior while interacting with police officers (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Thus, the conundrum of what definition is correct comes about.  Nonetheless, the perception of demeanor by police officers has more importance in social science research because they are the party that is given the authority to make a decision about what conduct is inappropriate and, in turn, requires a particular administration of law enforcement.  Given this dilemma, this essay will summarize numerous academic writings on police officers’ perceptions about citizen demeanor and the use of discretion based on these perceptions to generate better understandings about the content.

Summary of Literature

Social science research on this topic has repeatedly shown that there is a host of legal and extra-legal factors that contribute to arrests and other applications of law during encounters with police officers (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Claims of racial and ethnic biases, as well as other alleged prejudices, has, for the most part, guided the purposes of studying the decision-making processes in police work (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012).  These allegations have been traced back to the history of treatment toward minorities in the United States in general and specifically by the hands of police departments, as well as claims by civilians about police misconduct not pertaining to racial and ethnic prejudices (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012). 

With this being stated, there have been studies that show disproportionate arrests when minorities interact with police officers, yet there are, again, many legal and extra-legal factors that contribute to arresting an individual during these police-citizen events that fail to be considered by laypeople (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  First, the legal factors will be discussed in their full breadth.  That is, many arrests that occur during police-related situations happen because of illegal actions or previous illegal actions by citizens (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Contraband, warrants, disorderly conduct, and any other unlawful activities by civilians are the major legal factors that contribute to an arrest during encounters with police officers (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Research and arrest statistics validate this but, in many cases, only present simplistic data of the illegalities that were discovered by police officers and characteristics of the arrestees.  So, even if there are disproportionate numbers regarding minority arrests, the sheer fact that illegalities exist can circumvent many claims about biases.  Second, and more important, extra-legal factors guide the use of arrest during encounters with civilians more profusely (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Engel, Klahm, and Tillyer (2010) discussed how police officers’ perceptions about civilian conduct is the primary catalyst in determining whether a person should be arrested during a traffic stop.  More specifically, these scholars used data from a prominent study in Cleveland, Ohio to merit their postulations (Engel et al., 2010).  Data from this study confirmed that officers’ perceptions about disrespect being displayed toward them resulted in a higher likelihood of arrest (Engel et al., 2010).  Furthermore, interactions that entailed resentment, anger, hostility, verbal and physical force and abuse resulted in police officers making arrests during traffic stops more often than other forms of disrespect (Engel et al., 2010).  The findings also indicated that race and ethnicity did not have a significant influence on drivers’ arrest when other legal and extra-legal factors were controlled for (Engel et al., 2010, p. 298). 

In a unique contrasting notion, Klinger (1994) questioned the operationalization of citizen demeanor in previous studies by using three key factors that he felt had been overlooked.  First, he pointed to how demeanor has been improperly defined as criminal behaviors in many studies in general, which in turn means that previous studies failed to properly define and separate citizen demeanor and illegal behavior (Klinger, 1994).  Second, Klinger (1994) posited how many previous studies failed to control for criminal behaviors during interactions with police officers and, as he infers, that citizen demeanor was not properly defined or controlled for as well.  Lastly, Klinger (1994) stated that measures of criminal behavior have been so imprecise in previous studies that it has created a serious flaw in the specific research subject.  This notion about misguided research by Klinger (1994) caused many social scientists to reexamine their measures on police officers’ decisions to arrest (Engel et al., 2012; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  In his words, “…the manner in which previous observational police research controlled for crime may have consequences beyond the demeanor issue.  It raises the prospect that all reports of independent extralegal effects may misrepresent the nature of the relationship between the particular factor and arrest” (Klinger, 1994, p. 491).  Given the desired accuracy in academic research, it is proper to pose this inquiry when examining police officers’ perceptions about behaviors that are deemed worthy of arrest. 

Because of this, researchers began to reexamine studies and be more precise during their analyses.  Worden and Shepard (1996) did exactly this and also criticized Klinger (1994) for his dissent toward previous research agendas on demeanor and police use of discretion.  They suggested that the operationalization was not as problematic as Klinger (1994) presented because of the variations in analyses on demeanor and other variables in this subject (Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Basically, the idea that a general claim about particularities associated with measurements on demeanor during police-citizen encounters was not valid according to Worden and Shepard (1996).  They also confirmed the idea that controls for demeanor were done according to the specifics in many examinations on the subject (Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Thus, discrediting Klinger’s (1994) scrutiny and putting faith back into the previous research on the topic of citizen demeanor and arrests by police officers. 

Since the validity of demeanor measurement had been questioned, more detailed research methods were undertaken by social scientist examining the subject.  Engel, Tillyer, Klahm, and Frank (2012) also recognized the issues presented by Klinger (1994) and decided to embark on a study that attempted to resolve the quandaries about measuring demeanor.  Traffic stops and civilian demeanor during these encounters were again measured to comprehend how perceptions of demeanor by police officers influenced the administrations of justice (Engel et al., 2012).  Even though these authors went to great lengths to define various types of demeanor and, in turn, performed advanced research methods to determine correlations, they still discussed the difficulties in properly defining it and went on to say that it is vital to attempt to understand the onset of specific demeanors by citizens when interacting with police officers (Engel et al., 2012).  This conclusion brought a new insight into the studying of demeanor and police-citizen encounters.  Elaborating more, researchers began to measure the reasons why citizen demeanors came about, as well as the perceptions of the demeanors by police officers with specific situations in mind. 

  

Conclusion

In sum, research on demeanor during police-citizen encounters has produced mixed results (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Some scholars have inferred that the majority of measurements on demeanor are appropriate due to the specifics of the studied being performed, while others have posited that more in-depth explorations about the reasons for the onset of demeanors should take place (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).  Although the discrepancies are evident, the body of research about police officers’ perceptions on citizen demeanor suggests that behavior that is viewed as disrespectful or inappropriate has a higher likelihood to result in an arrest (Engel et al., 2010; Engel et al., 2012; Klinger, 1994; Worden & Shepard, 1996).         

References

Engel, R. S., Klahm, C. F., & Tillyer, R.  (2010).  Citizens’ demeanor, race, and traffic stops. In

            S. K. Rice & M. D. White (Eds.), Race, ethnicity, and policing:  New and essential

            readings (pp. 287-308).  New York, NY:  New York University Press. 

Engel, R. S., Klahm, C. F., Tillyer, R., & Frank, J.  (2012).  From the officer’s perspective:

A multilevel examination of citizens’ demeanor during traffic stops.  Justice Quarterly,

29(5), 650-683. 

Klinger, D. A.  (1994).  Demeanor or crime?  Why "hostile" citizens are more likely to be

            arrested.  Criminology, 32(3), 475-493. 

Worden, R. E., & Shepard, R. L.  (1996).  Demeanor, crime, and police behavior:  A

            reexamination of the police services study data.  Criminology, 34(1), 83-105.     

Photo Credit: Benjamin Bolton