The effect of community-oriented policing on police use of force: does community matter?

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether community-oriented policing (COP) influences rates of police use of force across communities, and whether the impact of COP varies according to the level of violent crime in communities. Design/methodology/approach: A range of data sources including police use of force reports, online surveys of Officers-in-Charge and recorded crime data was used to examine the association between formal and informal community consultation and the frequency of police use of force, across 64 socially challenged communities in Australia. Findings: Poisson multilevel modelling indicated no overall association between informal or formal community engagement and rates of police use of force. However, significant interaction terms for both informal and formal community consultation with violent crime rates indicated that higher levels of informal and formal community consultation were associated with lower rates of police use of force in communities with higher levels of violent crime. This relationship was not evident in low violent crime areas. Research limitations/implications: Communities were purposively sampled to have a high propensity for police use of force, on the basis that they had high rates of violent crime, or high levels of socio-economic disadvantage, or both. This research should be replicated with a representative sample of communities. Practical implications: The findings extend the potential benefits of COP to reducing the use of coercive policing tactics in high violent crime communities. Originality/value: This study finds that COP can reduce the frequency of violent encounters between police and community members in high violent crime communities.