Armed, but too dangerous? Factors associated with citizen support for the militarization of the police

Images of police officers riding in armored vehicles and carrying military-grade weapons have become part of the public consciousness following the events in Ferguson, Missouri and several other high-profile police-citizen encounters. Although a great deal of research has investigated how and why US...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Criminal justice studies 2018-04, Vol.31 (2), p.113-127
Main Authors: Lockwood, Brian, Doyle, Matthew D., Comiskey, John G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Citizens
Community policing
Consciousness
Crime
Criminal justice
Data processing
Demography
Militarization
Military weapons
Perceptions
Police
Sociodemographics
Weapons
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Summary:Images of police officers riding in armored vehicles and carrying military-grade weapons have become part of the public consciousness following the events in Ferguson, Missouri and several other high-profile police-citizen encounters. Although a great deal of research has investigated how and why US citizens perceive the police in various ways, almost no empirical work has asked how citizens perceive the militarization of the police. The current study analyzes data from a survey of 1005 US citizens to identify characteristics that are related to support for the use of military weapons and vehicles by local police departments. The results indicate that several demographic factors and perceptions of crime and the police are significantly related with citizen support for the militarization of the police. The implications of this research are discussed.
ISSN:1478-601X
1478-6028
DOI:10.1080/1478601X.2017.1420652