“It has always been my firm belief that policing is one of America’s most noble professions. The actions of any police officer, in an instant can impact an individual for life. Given this realization every police officer must be centered on the foundational principles of Service, Justice and Fundamental fairness. The nobility of policing demands the noblest of character.’ -Dr. Stephen R. Covey, 2008.
While historically viewed as a noble profession, popular media of today’s society would have the general populace believe that police officers are power hungry thugs who set out every day to utilize deadly force against unarmed minorities as a means to earn a paid vacation. This false perception could not be further from the reality that nearly 700,000 officers live each day. These officers see the worst that society has to offer and are subject to verbal/physical assault, injuries, lawsuits, possibly even death. The increased coverage that has resulted as a result of several high profile deaths involving unarmed minority suspects (Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Philando Castille, Eric Garner and Michael Brown) have all lead to a move of de-policing The term “de-policing” has a negative connotation and refers to officers retreating from active police work in response to an event that generates criticism of the police, such as a riot, consent decree, civil lawsuit, or a high-profile deadly force incident (Shjarback et al, 2017).
These high profile news stories have also led to an increase in open hostility towards officers for simply donning a uniform. The constant onslaught of negativity has an effect on officer morale which can cause hiring, retention and productivity. Due to popular and social media, facts of cases are often distorted or outright lies (see DOJ Report on Michael Brown) told as a means to gain another viewer or follower. This study hopes to show that the negative influence perceived by officers does indeed cause a decrease in work productivity, time of employment and ability to recruit new applicants for fear of becoming the next big story.
Policing today is subjected to the scrutiny of public opinion more than ever. An officers decisions in the era of cellphone and security cameras are relentlessly dissected by those who have little to no experience policing and all the time to review situations frame by frame where as a Police Officer in the event makes split second life or death decisions without hesitation. The fear of being the next Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown while being viciously attacked. After the shooting, which was determined to be justified by the Department of Justice (‘Department of Justice Report.., 2015), the violent protests caused by the decision to not charge Wilson in the death of brown caused him to leave law enforcement after only 6 years as an officer. Wilson went on to state in his official resignation that “ I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow” (Schabner, 2014).
Following this and several other high profile deaths involving unarmed minorities and police officers, the emergence of the Black Lives Matter Movement, ANTIFA and other social justice groups have fueled a legitimacy crisis within policing in American society. Widespread antipolice sentiment has led to a legitimacy crisis for police. The legitimacy crisis is fueled by the constant negative light in which police are portrayed in popular and social media along with the fear of getting in trouble or becoming the next Darren Wilson for simply doing their jobs. (Mac Donald, 2015). The result of the increased scrutiny is a so-called “Ferguson Effect” which refers to an officer’s reluctance to engage in self-initiated activity (traffic stops, consensual encounters, etc..) which was believed to lead to an increase in crime rates. Multiple studies have previously been conducted on the causal relationship between crime rates and the Ferguson Effect with several citing a lack of evidence to support the claim (Mac Donald, 2016a, 2016b; Tiwari, 2016; Pyrooz, Decker, Wolfe, & Shjarback, 2016; Rosenfeld, 2015).
The thought that an officer can be disciplined, lose their livelihood, retirement, income or be sued for simply doing their job has been a possible cause for delay in officers lack of escalation of force. One Chicago officer cited a fear of scrutiny and was severely beaten by a suspect (Hawkins, 2016). A perception of “trial by media” and increased civilian distrust have a negative effect on morale. Growing outrage at police practices led to the death of two NYPD officers who were ambushed while sitting in their patrol car, with the suspect stating on social media “They take 1 of ours…let’s take 2 of theirs” (Mueller & Baker, 2014).
While protecting a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas, Texas, five officers were shot and killed by a sniper who was angry with recent shootings of unarmed black men around the country. (Fernandez, Perez-Pena & Engel Bromwich, 2016). This increased distrust and lack of respect for authority has led to an increase in the “us versus them” culture within policing. Following the death of Freddy Gray and the ensuing media circus in Baltimore, it was found that officers were less likely to engage in traffic stops, searches and arrests (Morgan and Pally, 2016). While prior research has addressed the Ferguson Effect in relation to crime and officer activity, the relationship between the media caused Ferguson effect and officer morale are critical to legitimizing policing and officer discretion to utilize deadly force. Prior research has also delved into how negative police publicity influence police officers and that officer have a strong “fear of scandal” (Klockers, 1996). Further examination into the relationship between media and officer morale needs to be conducted.
