Armed, but too dangerous? Factors associated with citizen support for the militarization of the police

Assessing the Direct and Indirect Effects of Legitimacy on Public Empowerment of Police: A Study of Public Support for Police Militarization in America

“…Support for Police Use of Surplus Military Equipment was measured as a latent factor using four items capturing sentiments toward police use of equipment commonly associated with militarization (e.g., surplus military equipment, style of dress, or "material militarization"; see Kraska 2007;Lockwood et al 2018). Respondents were asked whether law enforcement should be able to (1) use surplus military weapons (e.g., assault weapons, AR-15/M4; submachine guns, MP5), (2) use surplus military vehicles (e.g., BearCat armored personnel carrier, mine resistant ambush protected vehicle-MRAP), (3) use surplus military equipment (e.g., computers, tools, generators, etc.…”

Agency Correlates of Police Militarization: The Case of MRAPs

“…First, we expect agencies in communities with relatively large Black populations to have fewer MRAPs. Moule et al (2018) and Lockwood et al (2018) have recently presented evidence that support for police militarization is lower for Black Americans than for White Americans (although this finding depends on model specification). It is plausible to think that agencies in communities with large Black populations are sensitive to race-based citizenpolice relations and are attuned to the potentially troubling optics of military gear deployed in Black neighborhoods.…”

Police militarization in the United States

“…Interestingly, Moule, Parry, and Fox find that perceptions of police legitimacy only predicted support for SWAT teams being used to serve drug warrants and patrol civil unrest; however, there was near universal support for using SWAT teams to respond to hostage situations and terror attacks. Ultimately, these studies by Moule and colleagues Moule, Burruss, et al, 2018; and Lockwood et al (2018) are illustrative of the fact that perceptions of police legitimacy have a strong influence on public support for police militarization. Moule, Burruss, et al note that perceptions of legitimacy are especially important for police to consider as it can improve criminal justice outcomes and law following (Tyler, 2004(Tyler, , 2006(Tyler, , 2017.…”

“…Survey research on police militarization has focused on three areas: the creation and deployment of elite tactical police units (e.g., paramilitary police units (PPUs) (Kraska & Cubellis, ; Kraska & Kappeler, )), the views of law enforcement officers regarding police militarization (Kunselman, Vito, & Walsh, ; Phillips, ; Turner & Fox, ), and determinants of public perceptions toward police militarization (Fox, Moule, & Parry, ; Lockwood, Doyle, & Comiskey, ; Moule, Burruss, Parry, & Fox, ; Moule, Fox, & Parry, ; Moule, Parry, & Fox, ).…”

“…Finally, researchers have also used surveys to begin assessing public opinion and perceptions regarding police militarization. Lockwood et al () used a nationally representative survey of 1005 people to examine what characteristics might explain support for police use of military equipment in counterterrorism, drug enforcement, gang enforcement, and riot control. Results indicate that race was not a strong predictor of support or opposition for police using military equipment, while having a college education and being politically liberal were associated with opposing police use of military equipment.…”