Public servants or soldiers? A test of the police-military equivalency hypothesis

Ilchi, Omeed S.; Frank, James

doi:10.1080/0735648x.2019.1653217

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…varied considerably across situations. Ilchi and Frank (2020) analyzed data from a convenience sample of students at the University of Cincinnati. They combined respondents' answers to a series of questions into an aggregate scale; the constitutive items assessed students' agreement or disagreement with statements that police in high-crime neighborhoods (a) face similar danger as soldiers in war zones, (b) should be able to do anything they need to in order to control crime, and (c) need military equipment and weapons to control crime.…”

Section: Public Opinion About "Militarized" Police Weapons and Gear: Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Opinion About Police Weapons and Equipment: An Exploratory Analysis

Wozniak

Drakulich

Calfano

2021

Criminal Justice Policy Review

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Despite debates about the “material militarization” of the police, relatively little information on mass public opinion about police weapons, equipment, and gear currently exists. We analyze data from a national, opt-in panel of survey participants to assess public opinion regarding police use of 10 different types of weapons and equipment for use in confrontations with citizens. We find that public opinion defies easy classification into “militarized” versus “routine” equipment categories. Multivariate analyses indicate that perceptions of (a) police efficacy and (b) the frequency with which officers experience physical assaults on the job are the most consistent predictors of support for a range of weapons and gear, whereas perceptions of police misconduct and bias predict opposition to some types of tools. Partisan differences in attitudes between Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are less consistent predictors than broader perceptions about policing, but the effects of partisanship that are evident are substantively large.

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Section: Public Opinion About "Militarized" Police Weapons and Gear: Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Opinion About Police Weapons and Equipment: An Exploratory Analysis

Wozniak

Drakulich

Calfano

2021

Criminal Justice Policy Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Additionally, they found that the ideological or demographic predictors of public support for SWAT varied considerably across situations. Ilchi and Frank (2019) analyzed data from a convenience sample of students at the University of Cincinnati.…”

Section: Public Opinion About "Militarized" Police Weapons and Gear: ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Opinion about Police Weapons and Equipment: An Exploratory Analysis

Wozniak,

Drakulich,

Calfano

2021

Preprint

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Despite debates about the "material militarization" of the police, relatively little information on mass public opinion about police weapons, equipment, and gear currently exists. We analyze data from a national, opt-in panel of survey participants to assess public opinion regarding police use of ten different types of weapons and equipment for use in confrontations with citizens. We find that public opinion defies easy classification into "militarized" vs. "routine" equipment categories. Multivariate analyses indicate that perceptions of 1) police efficacy and 2) the frequency with which officers experience physical assaults on the job are the most consistent predictors of support for a range of weapons and gear, while perceptions of police misconduct and bias predict opposition to some types of tools. Partisan differences in attitudes between Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are less consistent predictors than broader perceptions about policing, but the effects of partisanship that are evident are substantively large.

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Citizen Willingness to Hold a Police Officer Criminally Responsible for the Use of Deadly Force: Examining the Correlates of Finding Guilt

2023

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Despite increased public attention on police killings of citizens and police accountability in recent years, few studies have specifically examined the support for convicting and incarcerating a specific police officer who was accused of wrongfully killing a citizen. The current study examines the attitudes of undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university about a case involving a white police officer who worked for the university police department and recently shot and killed an unarmed Black citizen during a traffic stop. Specifically, it examines support for convicting and incarcerating this officer, who was charged but ultimately went unpunished, and the factors that are related to support for, opposition to, or neutrality towards holding the officer criminally responsible. The findings indicate that respondents who perceive police officers as soldiers in a war on crime and hold symbolically racist attitudes were more likely to oppose or be neutral about the officer being held responsible. White respondents, while not more likely to oppose the conviction and incarceration of the officer, were more likely to be neutral toward the outcome of the case, indicating that white indifference might be a major barrier to holding police officers accountable for their improper use of deadly force.

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Public servants or soldiers? A test of the police-military equivalency hypothesis

Cited by 3 publications

References 92 publications

Public Opinion About Police Weapons and Equipment: An Exploratory Analysis

Public Opinion About Police Weapons and Equipment: An Exploratory Analysis

Public Opinion about Police Weapons and Equipment: An Exploratory Analysis

Citizen Willingness to Hold a Police Officer Criminally Responsible for the Use of Deadly Force: Examining the Correlates of Finding Guilt

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