Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Effects of Police Militarization on Bureaucratic Behavior and Public Opinion

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

General Summary Law enforcement is one of the primary avenues through which citizens interface with government. But aggressive police tactics and the militarization of local law enforcement agencies have prompted widespread debate about the nature of police-citizen interactions, how they can be improved, and their impact citizens' perceptions of government and the social world. Using novel data on public opinion and police behavior, this project examines these issues in three parts. The first study tests whether revised procedures inside police departments improve the quality of police-citizen interactions. The second study assesses where and how militarized police units are used by local law enforcement agencies, and the impact of their use on public perceptions of crime and law enforcement. The third study tests the generalizability of these findings across other types of government agencies. Using a series of survey experiments, the investigator evaluates the conditions under which that actions of government agents beyond law enforcement personnel impact perceptions of the social problems with which they are associated. Technical Summary Using survey experimental data on public opinion and micro-level data on police behavior, this project examines several normatively important questions concerning aggressive police tactics and the militarization of local law enforcement agencies. The first study uses an interrupted time-series analysis to test whether revised procedures inside the police department improves the quality of police-citizen interactions. The second study develops a theory of the perceptual side effects of government action, while assessing where and how militarized police units are used by local law enforcement agencies, as well as their impact on public perceptions. Longitudinal data on S.W.A.T. team deployments collected via hundreds of public records requests is merged with local crime and demographic data. The PI also uses survey experiments that randomly assign individuals to read police news reports that portray officers in either traditional uniforms or with various levels of militarized clothing and equipment demonstrate that individuals who see militarized police in a community are more likely to perceive that crime is worse in that community, and less likely to support police spending. These findings highlight how the actions of government agents can impact public perceptions of social problems in potentially misleading and unintended ways. The third study tests the generalizability of these findings. Using a series of survey experiments, the PI examines the conditions under which government agents beyond law enforcement personnel impact perceptions of the social problems with which they are associated.