Author: Jerry T. Atkins

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13:

Scholars have been interested in the culture of the police for decades. In particular, researchers have paid close attention to police coercion and use of force. More recent research has begun to explore the idea that neighborhood context impacts the decision to use force during a police-citizen encounter. The present study examines how neighborhood characteristics influence the likelihood of force being used during an encounter. The theoretical model of this study suggests that force is more likely to be used in socially disorganized neighborhoods, which is likely due to the "code of the street" operating in such neighborhoods (Anderson, 1997). The data used in the current analysis was provided by the Roanoke Police Department, which is located in southwestern Virginia. A series of OLS regression analyses allowed the researcher to identify three neighborhood-level variables that significantly predict self-reported police use of force incidents (black percent, family poverty rate, and public disorder rate); thereby, partially supporting the idea that force is more likely to be used in socially disorganized neighborhoods. A geographically weighted regression (GWR) allowed the researcher to further analyze the data and to identify which locations each variable was a significant predictor for police use of force. The results of the GWR dismantle the idea that the police are more likely to use force in socially disorganized neighborhoods, as the OLS regressions initially illustrated, due to the fact that the strength of each variable varies from one location to another (i.e., non-stationarity). Policy implications, limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.