Suspect demeanor is an often-studied extra-legal individual determinant on police behavior. It is believed that the likelihood of arrest increases when a suspect displays hostile demeanor or disrespect toward a police officer (Klinger, 1994). Researched in this area has focused on determining the legitimacy of this claim. Does displaying hostility toward police officers directly increase the chance of arrest? A majority of the research conducted in this area would agree that hostility does influence arrest. Not only does demeanor influence the arrest, but also other police behaviors: a hostile suspect is more likely to have force used against them than a deferential suspect; a police officer is less likely to take a police report from a hostile
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Socio-economic status is often linked to race and research has found that black men, often coming from poverty stricken neighborhoods, are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Studies have found that citizens of lower socio-economic status are more likely to be arrested (Sherman, 1980). When controlled for race, some studies have found that wealth has no independent influence on officer’s decision to arrest (Lum, 2011). What about socio-economic status of a city, or the neighborhood context? Lum (2011), used data from the 2000 US census to examine how characteristics of places influence police discretion. Lum expands on earlier research examining chronological decisions leading up to an incident, racial and ethnic composition of places, and variety of incidents at small geographic locations across an entire jurisdiction. She found that places with greater proportions of blacks and places with greater proportions of wealthy residents were less likely to have police action. Lum offered the suggestion that black neighborhoods have less police action because police tend to not care as much, and she offered the suggestion that wealthier neighborhoods haves less police action because they have more informal social control, and emphasizes that further research is needed to figure out why police give differential responses (Lum). Some research suggests police give differential …show more content…
Police officers do act differently in poor urban neighborhoods and are more significantly more likely to use force against a suspect in confronted in a poor urban neighborhood but more likely to do with higher murder rates and violent crime rates than discrimination (Terrill & Reisig, 2003). Terrill and Reisig (2003) used data by the Project on Policing Neighborhoods. Data came from three cities during the summer of 1996 and 1997 in the form of observations, police records, and interviews with police officers. They studied neighborhood context as an influencing factor on police decision to use force and found that police were more likely to use higher levels of force during encounters in disadvantaged neighborhoods with a bad reputation (Terrill &
Socio-economic status is often linked to race and research has found that black men, often coming from poverty stricken neighborhoods, are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Studies have found that citizens of lower socio-economic status are more likely to be arrested (Sherman, 1980). When controlled for race, some studies have found that wealth has no independent influence on officer’s decision to arrest (Lum, 2011). What about socio-economic status of a city, or the neighborhood context? Lum (2011), used data from the 2000 US census to examine how characteristics of places influence police discretion. Lum expands on earlier research examining chronological decisions leading up to an incident, racial and ethnic composition of places, and variety of incidents at small geographic locations across an entire jurisdiction. She found that places with greater proportions of blacks and places with greater proportions of wealthy residents were less likely to have police action. Lum offered the suggestion that black neighborhoods have less police action because police tend to not care as much, and she offered the suggestion that wealthier neighborhoods haves less police action because they have more informal social control, and emphasizes that further research is needed to figure out why police give differential responses (Lum). Some research suggests police give differential …show more content…
Police officers do act differently in poor urban neighborhoods and are more significantly more likely to use force against a suspect in confronted in a poor urban neighborhood but more likely to do with higher murder rates and violent crime rates than discrimination (Terrill & Reisig, 2003). Terrill and Reisig (2003) used data by the Project on Policing Neighborhoods. Data came from three cities during the summer of 1996 and 1997 in the form of observations, police records, and interviews with police officers. They studied neighborhood context as an influencing factor on police decision to use force and found that police were more likely to use higher levels of force during encounters in disadvantaged neighborhoods with a bad reputation (Terrill &