ABSTRACT

We investigate the ‘demeanour hypothesis’, stating that police officers are more likely to arrest and use force against citizens who display a ‘bad attitude’. We observed 78 encounters captured on surveillance cameras in the city of Amsterdam. Video material allowed us to code specific behaviours (‘citizen pointed at officer’) instead of the more ambiguous interpretation of behaviour (‘citizen was disrespectful’) used in prior studies. We employ two regression analyses to estimate the extent to which different types of citizens’ behaviour – ‘bad attitude’, non-compliance, and aggression and crime – relate to physical coercive behaviour by law enforcement agents. After controlling for non-compliant, aggressive and criminal behaviours, as well as situational and individual features, citizens’ ‘bad attitude’ behaviours remain associated with physical coercion. However, our data also shows that the effects of aggressive and criminal behaviours are far stronger than that of ‘bad attitude’ behaviours. Yet, there is an observable ‘demeanour effect’ in our sample. Conceptually, we provide a more thorough behavioural description of what a ‘bad attitude’ looks like. Practically, our findings can be used in training, such as scenario or VR training, in order to raise officers’ awareness of citizens’ behaviours, and may assist them to prevent escalation in their encounters with the public.

摘要

我们调查了“行为举止假设”，指出警察更有可能逮捕表现出“不良态度”的公民并对他们使用武力。我们观察到阿姆斯特丹市的监控摄像头捕捉到了 78 起遭遇事件。视频材料使我们能够对特定行为（“公民指向官员”）进行编码，而不是在之前的研究中使用更模糊的行为解释（“公民不尊重”）。我们采用两种回归分析来估计不同类型的公民行为（“不良态度”、不遵守规定、攻击性和犯罪）与执法人员的人身强制行为的相关程度。在控制了不合规、攻击性和犯罪行为以及情境和个人特征后，公民的“不良态度”行为仍然与身体胁迫有关。然而，我们的数据还表明，攻击性和犯罪行为的影响远远大于“不良态度”行为的影响。然而，我们的样本中存在明显的“举止效应”。从概念上讲，我们对“不良态度”的表现提供了更彻底的行为描述。实际上，我们的研究结果可以用于培训，例如场景或 VR 培训，以提高官员对公民行为的认识，并可能帮助他们防止与公众的接触升级。我们对什么是“不良态度”提供了更全面的行为描述。实际上，我们的研究结果可以用于培训，例如场景或 VR 培训，以提高官员对公民行为的认识，并可能帮助他们防止与公众的接触升级。我们对什么是“不良态度”提供了更全面的行为描述。实际上，我们的研究结果可以用于培训，例如场景或 VR 培训，以提高官员对公民行为的认识，并可能帮助他们防止与公众的接触升级。