NCJ Number
139248
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 20 Issue: 5 Dated: (1992) Pages: 401-412
Date Published
1992
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The present research examined variability in policing style with regard to legally serious crime, as indicated by arrest practices of Illinois municipal police departments for index crimes.
Abstract
Consideration was given to a variety of contextual factors associated with aggregate-level police behavior for legally serious crime. These factors included minority presence in communities, municipal governance, geography, organizational influences, police strength, police concentration, organizational layers in police ranks, and police supervisory ratio. Policing style was measured in terms of 1986 arrest statistics for offense classifications reported by Illinois municipal police departments as index crimes. Five offense types were examined: aggravated battery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft. Research findings showed that correlates of jurisdictional variation in policing style involved the concentration of police personnel in lower ranks, police presence, minority presence, and type of municipal governance. Organizational factors displayed independent effects on police behavior. Increases in police strength were negatively associated with police arrest practices for all offense classifications, although the rate of decrease declined as the proportion of police relative to the service population increased. Independent effects of race and type of municipal governance on police legalism suggested that the combined presence of city managers and minorities intensified the tendency of police officers to display legalistic styles in arrests for violent crime and motor vehicle theft. 30 references, 5 notes, and 4 tables