Revisiting the Decision to Arrest: Comparing Beat and Community Officers

Abstract

During the past 30 years, an expanding body of literature has evolved that examines the correlates of officers'decisions to arrest. This study extends this line of inquiry by investigating the influence of situational-and community-level variables on the arrest decisions of officers in an agency that has implemented community policing. Using data collected through systematic social observations of the police, the authors examine the direct effects of officers' assignment on the decision to arrest. In addition, the authors explore whether conventional arrest predictors vary between community and beat officers and, if so, the extent and nature of the variance. The findings generally suggest that there is no significant direct influence of assignment on arrest decisions. However, substantive differences in the decision-making process are revealed among predictors of arrest across assignments.

Police Attitudes about the Use of Unnecessary Force: An Ecological Examination

“…Klinger's (1997) theory has been used directly and indirectly by past researchers who integrated neighborhood variables into their research. Novak et al (2002) used community structural characteristics as a proxy for crime rates to compare the arrest decision of patrol officers who were characterized as beat officers or community policing officers. They found that community factors had no influence on the arrest decision of beat or community policing officers.…”

Suspect Demeanor and Arrest: a Triggered Displacement of Aggression Explanation

“…Observational data gathered in Cincinnati during 1998 revealed that suspect demeanor increased the likelihood of arrest in most police-suspect interactions (Novak et al 2002), but had no influence on citations or arrests during traffic stop encounters (Brown and Frank 2005). Finally, Dunham and Alpert (2009) conducted a qualitative analysis of police-suspect interactions in Savannah, Georgia in 2002.…”

Penalty notices for disorder: influences on police decision making

“…Moreover, as disorderly offenders are frequently highly agitated when inebriated, one may anticipate that they would be more likely to re-offend in the immediate aftermath of disorder. This might lead the officer to predict that arrest would be a more appropriate disposition in cases of intoxication (Brown and Frank 2006;Novak et al 2002). Moreover, given the legal requirement to ensure that the offender is capable of understanding the PND process before issue, we hypothesise:…”