The effect of a videotaped arrest on public perceptions of police use of force

✍ Scribed by Eric S. Jefferis; Robert J. Kaminski; Stephen Holmes; Dena E. Hanley

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 1013 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0047-2352
• DOI: 10.1016/s0047-2352(97)00022-6

✦ Synopsis

In response to recent highly publicized violent encounters between the police and tile public, there has been a significant increase in research on police use ¢~force and citizen's perceptions qlthe police.

Relatively little empirical research, though, has addressed the role of the media in shaping public perceptions of police use of forte. This article helps fill this void by examining the impact o['a cont~vversial. violent arrest captured on videotape by a local news team and widely broadcast on hwal television in

Cincinnati. Using the Greater Cincinnati Sun'ey, bivariate and nudtivariate analyses are empho'ed to examine variations in perceptions of the reasonableness of the force used by police. Findings indicate that the videotaped arrest had a negative impact on citizens' perceptions of fi~rce used by police during arrest situations, but that the effect was substantially greater among non-Caucasians. Furthermore, over a ten-year period, non-Caucasians were consistently more likely than Caucasians to believe police used force excessively.