What Does the Public Want Police to Do During Pandemics? A National Experiment

Abstract

We administered a survey experiment to a national sample of 1,068 US adults in April 2020 to determine the factors that shape support for various policing tactics in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents were sharply divided in their views about pandemic policing tactics, and were least supportive of policies that might limit public access to officers or reduce crime deterrence. Information about the health risks to officers, but not to inmates, significantly increased support for "precautionary" policing, but not for "social distance" policing. The information effect was modest, but may be larger if the information came from official sources and/or was communicated on multiple occasions. Other factors that are associated with attitudes toward pandemic policing include perceptions of procedural justice, altruistic fear, racial resentment, and authoritarianism. Policy Implications: When considered together with other evidence, one clear takeaway from our study is that the public values police patrols and wants officers on call, even during pandemics. Another is that people who believe the police are procedurally just are more willing to trust officers in times of crisis and to empower them to enforce new laws, such as social distancing ordinances. Our results thus support continued procedural justice training for officers. A third takeaway is that agencies must proactively communicate with the public about the risks their officers face when responding to public health crises or natural disasters, in addition to how they propose to mitigate those risks. They must also be amenable to adjusting in response to community feedback.

Social order and social justice: Moral intuitions, systemic racism beliefs, and Americans’ divergent attitudes toward Black Lives Matter and police

“…The thermometer approach also is well suited for studying the influence of moral intuitions because, as described above, moral intuitions are conceptualized as operating via a “dual process” system in which “fast thinking,” intuitive moral cognitions, including feelings , precede and influence moral reasoning and position‐taking (Haidt, 2012). Although we are unable to examine police legitimacy (i.e., trust in the institution of policing and a corresponding felt obligation to obey the police) and procedural justice (i.e., perceptions of fairness and care in police conduct; Nix et al., 2021; Silver, 2020; Sunshine & Tyler, 2003; Tankabee, 2013; Tyler, 2006; Wolfe et al., 2016), we recognize that respondents’ positive feelings toward police are likely to correlate with both of these well‐studied factors, thus suggesting additional avenues for theoretical development based on our results (we return to this point in the Discussion).…”

“…The study found that binding moral intuitions were positively associated with perceptions of police legitimacy and acceptance of police use of force, and that individualizing moral intuitions were inversely associated with these outcomes. In the second study, Nix et al (2021) found that MFT's Authority/subversion foundation (the only moral foundation measured) was negatively associated with respondents' support for "precautionary policing" during the Covid-19 pandemic, which involved cutting back on traditional policing activities to reduce virus spread. Neither Silver (2020) nor Nix et al (2021) examined attitudes toward BLM; nor did they examine the role of systemic racism beliefs in predicting and mediating attitudes toward BLM or police.…”

“…In the second study, Nix et al (2021) found that MFT's Authority/subversion foundation (the only moral foundation measured) was negatively associated with respondents' support for "precautionary policing" during the Covid-19 pandemic, which involved cutting back on traditional policing activities to reduce virus spread. Neither Silver (2020) nor Nix et al (2021) examined attitudes toward BLM; nor did they examine the role of systemic racism beliefs in predicting and mediating attitudes toward BLM or police. Their findings nonetheless support our core argument that moral intuitions are relevant for explaining Americans' divergent attitudes toward BLM and police.…”

The role of bounded-authority concerns in shaping citizens' duty to obey authorities during COVID-19

“…In the COVID-19 context, research has also found that perceptions of the procedurally just nature of authorities' treatment toward community members can improve public willingness to comply with authorities' directives (see, e.g. McCarthy et al , 2021; Nix et al. , 2021; Sandrin and Simpson, 2021).…”

Policing in the COVID-19 pandemic: are rural police organizations immune?

“…Recent research has highlighted important policing issues to consider during the COVID-19 pandemic (Lum et al , 2020; Nix et al , 2020; Stogner et al , 2020). Brooks and Lopez (2020) described ideal ways for the police to respond during the COVID-19 emergency.…”