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An Examination of Professional/Trade Law Enforcement Publication Consumption and Sensitivity to the Ferguson Effect Among US Police Chiefs

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Abstract

Empirical research has found that the rise in national attention and criticism toward American law enforcement in the wake of Ferguson (i.e., summer 2014 and beyond) has negatively influenced police officers’ perceptions and behavior. Yet, there is variation in how officers have viewed motivation, morale, and proactivity in the post-Ferguson era. Building on previous work and integrating the “media effects” literatures from the disciplines of political science and communications, specifically Gerbner and colleagues’ cultivation theory, the current study examined whether consulting professional/trade publications was associated with officer perceptions of the Ferguson effect among a nationally representative sample of 163 US police chiefs. Results found that those chiefs who subscribe to/regularly visit professional/trade law enforcement publications, such as Law Enforcement Today and Police1, were more likely to hold negative perceptions of the Ferguson effect. That is, chiefs indicated greater problems with motivation, morale, and productivity in their respective departments. Chiefs who experienced backlash (e.g., protests/demonstrations) in their jurisdictions were also more likely to hold negative perceptions.

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Notes

  1. These include “priming,” whereby the type of outlet impacts the way people see the importance (or lack thereof) of an issue (e.g., Abraham and Appiah 2006), and whether individuals self-select into outlets for information that is consistent with their prevailing attitudes where they experience “selective exposure” and “echo chambers” (e.g., Stroud 2010). Both of these factors might interact with one another, creating a feedback loop (Slater 2015). Additionally, “third-person perceptions” (see Nix and Pickett 2017) and “hostile media effects” (Rojas 2010) may be relevant. The problem with these theoretical frameworks, however, is that they require the data and research methodologies (e.g., longitudinal with moderation analyses) that fall beyond the scope of the current inquiry.

  2. It is important to note that Marier and Fridell (2020) examined two waves of officer perceptions using data from the National Police Research Platform: one before and another after Ferguson (i.e., summer 2014). A comparison of pre- and post-Ferguson perceptions suggests that the impact of Ferguson was negligible, as officers held negative perceptions prior to summer 2014.

  3. One of the reviewers, who revealed his/her position as a law enforcement executive at the rank of Deputy Chief, made this point. It was well taken and included.

  4. It is worth noting that a content analysis of these professional/trade publications was not performed.

  5. This same approach was not replicated to create a measure of the chiefs’ race/ethnicity due to the arbitrary nature of making such determinations based on name and headshots/photographs.

  6. The results of Breusch–Pagan tests for heteroskedasticity include model 1 (x2 = .35; p = .56) and model 2 (x2 = .25; p = 62).

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks Rui Shi, Celine Hong, and Miles Coleman from Rowan University for their help with the relevant communications literature.

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  1. Department of Law and Justice Studies, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, NJ, 08028, USA

    John A. Shjarback

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John A. Shjarback is an assistant professor in the Department of Law and Justice Studies at Rowan University. He received his Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Arizona State University in 2016. His research interests center on policing, specifically environmental and organizational influences on discretionary officer behavior and current issues and trends. His recent work has been featured in Crime & Delinquency, Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminology & Public Policy, and Injury Prevention.

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Appendix

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Table 4 Totals and percentages of chiefs who have consulted each publication
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Shjarback, J.A. An Examination of Professional/Trade Law Enforcement Publication Consumption and Sensitivity to the Ferguson Effect Among US Police Chiefs. J Police Crim Psych 37, 669–680 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-022-09517-7

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