The impacts of civilian involvement in police conduct review on confidence in the police

A real or ideological role in citizen-police conflicts

Source: https://www.nacole.org/

Abstract

This paper began as a search for an answer to the question of what component of citizen involvement in the review of police conduct is important for public confidence in the police. Is it perhaps the processing of complaints, the investigation, the adjudication, the disciplining, or the appeal process? This inquiry was based on two assumptions; that some measure of public involvement in police conduct review was critical to public confidence in the police, and that components of the process would have differing levels of impact on this confidence. As an unexpected surprise to the writer, the available data led away from these assumptions, to the very question of whether citizen involvement in any form indeed has a causal relationship to public confidence in the police.

Unfortunately, media reporters find newsworthiness in ‘bad’ and emotional stories (Williams, 2014). So, they have exploited shootings by police, accusations of racial profiling by law enforcement, and even incivilities by officers caught on phone or video recordings. Repeated accounts of implied police misbehavior, police use of force against members of minority or marginalized communities, or allegations of significant police misconduct often create a lack of trust in the police (Ferdik, Rojek, & Alpert, 2013, p. 113). Such reporting has at times incited conflict between police and communities. Alarmed on one side has been people’s demands for respect, fair treatment, and restraint. Aggravated on the other has been the police anticipation of unchallenged license to maintain order (Hahn & Jeffries, 2003, p. 107; Smith, 2007). The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement is one contemporary illustration of a resulting inflamed conflictual relation based on historic grievances between citizens and police.

Public confidence in the police is believed necessary for citizen engagement in upholding the law (Roberts, 2007, p. 154). Various strategies have evolved in pursuit of increasing public support. Canadian police agencies have sought diversity in hiring, cultural sensitivity training, community outreach, and public relations campaigns. A contemporary strategy aimed to resolve community-police conflicts and enhance public confidence in the police is the statutory imposition of public involvement in police conduct review processes (Hryniewicz, 2012, p. 78). However, little is known whether such forms of civilian oversight actually achieve these goals (Murphy & McKenna, 2014; Walker, 2006, p. 21; Cotter, 2015). To better manage discord from difficult media reported events, this paper seeks to inform policy makers of the evidence-based sources for confidence in police and the optimal role of citizen engagement in police conduct review.

Methodology

Currently, there exists virtually no specific research on the direct correlation between citizen engagement in police conduct review and public confidence of the police. There is a body of work based predominately on qualitative surveys which does provide an understanding of various factors upon which confidence in the police rests. There is also considerable literature on the development, functions, and outcomes of civilian participation in police conduct review (Miller, 2002, p. 1). The two bodies of writings together begin to clarify the relationship between public confidence in the police and citizen involvement in police conduct review. Both subject areas were therefore extensively canvassed.

Civilian involvement in police conduct review commenced in earnest in the Western democracies as recently as the 1960s (Miller, 2002, p. 1); first in America and then in concert with Canada, Britain, and Australia (Prenzler & Ronkin, 2001, p. 152). The English literature from these countries inform the majority of this paper. In this literature the terms ‘civilian,’ ‘citizen,’ ‘public,’ ‘community,’ ‘independent,’ and ‘external’ in respect to police conduct review indicate government established initiatives involving individuals who are not police officers (Ferdik et al., 2013, pp. 104-105; Miller, 2002, p. 1). These terms appear to be used interchangeably in the literature, and are used so in this paper. The term 'public confidence' in the literature has the central focus of the public’s perceived legitimacy of police and consent for their role (Merry, Power, McManus, & Alison, 2012, p. 119). Though different in definition, ‘trust’ is often used in place of ‘confidence’ (Goldsmith, 2005, p. 447; Cao, 2014, pp. 504-505; Maslov, 2014). Various researchers have found that the two terms are highly correlated, causing them to view the terms as proxies for each other (Roberts, 2007, p. 158; Jackson & Bradford, 2010, p. 245). Therefore, these two terms are also used interchangeably in this paper.

Evolution of Beliefs and Constructs

Public policing as an institution itself is a relatively recent historical innovation, with the first ‘public police’ created in 1829 in London by Sir Robert Peel. The London Metropolitan Police were to be citizens in uniform as opposed to agents of government will; and thereby policing would be ‘by consent’ of the public. Initially the police were left to oversee themselves, with those in authority responsible to maintain discipline (Phillips & Trone, 2001, p. 2). This was also the case in Canada, where serious incidents between police and citizens were investigated by police agencies themselves (Murphy & McKenna, 2014). Abuses of authority and widespread corruption in the first Western police forces were commonplace in the 1800s and early 1900s. These police departments were inefficient, had low hiring standards, and provided minimal training (Ferdik et al., 2013, p. 105). In response to public outcries over egregious police conduct governments felt compelled to institute reforms to policing, including raising hiring standards, upgrading training, improving pay, expanding polices, and promoting professionalization (Ferdik et al., 2013, p. 105). These measures failed to endure in resolving police misconduct (Ferdik et al., 2013, p. 113) and a cyclic pattern developed of exposed police transgressions, reforms, subsiding of outrage, and years later another scandal (Greene, 2007, p. 748). The theory emerged that police corruption and abuse is an inherent attribute of policing due to the very low levels of supervision, high levels of discretion, and significant authority (Prenzler & Ronkin, 2001, pp. 151-153). Further convictions were that police organisations are protective of fellow officers, cover up improper practices, avoid accountability, and are hostile to external inquiries (Prenzler & Ronkin, 2001, p. 152; Greene, 2007, p. 749). Over time, the public questioned the will and abilities of police organizations to constrain misconduct by their officers (Ferdik et al., 2013, p. 104; Miller, 2002, p. 14; de Angelis, Rosenthal, & Buchner, 2016, p. 13). Critics were persuasive with law makers that the police ought not to autonomously investigate themselves due to perceptions of conflict of interest and of a self-protective culture (Prenzler & Ronken, 2001, p155; Ferdik, et al, 2013, p. 107).

Fundamental changes in the public’s relationship to government and public institutions occurred during the 1960s. Deep mistrust of ‘the establishment’ was reflected in the American movements for civil rights, women’s rights, and gay rights, along with the anti Vietnam war protests. Unprecedented media exposure of heavy-handed police responses to civil unrest influenced the evolving ideology to include some measure of civilian control over policing (Ferdik, et al., 2013. p. 106; Miller, 2002, p. 3; Greene, 2007, p. 752; Walker, 2007, p. 1). A collateral belief was that involving citizens would guarantee that complaints against police would be properly processed and investigated (de Angelis et al., 2016, p. 13; Livingston, 2003, p. 654; Ferdik et al., 2013, p. 113; Smith. 2009, p. 257; Hryniewicz, 2012, p. 77).

Broad resistance from police officials, unions, and associations limited the viability of citizen involvement (Ferdik et al., 2013, pp. 106-107; Miller, 2002, p. 11; Clarke, 2009, p. 3). Arguments against external oversight included that it undermines police organizational and professional autonomy (Ferdik et al., 2013, p. 106). Nevertheless, the creation of structures and processes were driven forward by political responses to the prevailing perceptions and assumptions over police behavior and culture. By 2016 legislated civilian involvement was in place across the United States through 144 civilian agencies (de Angelis et al., 2016, p. 10). In Canada the first noteworthy system was established in Toronto in 1984 and in 1990 expanded throughout Ontario. By 2012 there was a total of eighteen programs in Canada, serving the RCMP, the provinces, and several municipalities. (Ferdik et al, 2013, pp. 107-108; Sen, 2010, pp. 58-59). During these years attempts at civilian oversight also started in Australia and Britain, and then spread to other countries (Miller, 2002, p. 1).

These initiatives contain varying forms of citizen involvement in complaint management, investigation, and adjudication, as well as differing degrees of independence from police. All are centred on attempting to create accountability through public transparency (Greene, 2007, p. 749; Ferdik et al., 2013, pp. 108-109; Murphy & McKenna, 2014). The implicit theory has been that investigation, control, or oversight independent of the police can provide competent investigations, objective procedural decisions, and unbiased findings. In this manner police officers and agencies will be accountable, and thereby collaterally will be worthy of public trust and support (Miller, 2002, p. 3; Fedik et al, 2014, p. 104).

As one example, the 1992-1994 landmark Commission of Inquiry into Policing in British Columbia assumed this theory (Oppal, 1992, pp. 17-20) and prompted the British Columbia government in time to establish two independent organizations to review police conduct. Since 2000 the British Columbia Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (OPCC) has monitored and directed annually approximately one thousand complaint processes regarding the ‘Code of Professional Conduct’ as it applies to municipal police officers only, and not the RCMP (OPCC, 2017). Commencing in October 2014 the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) has investigated police involved matters related to death or serious harm to determine if officers may have committed an offence. In 2019 alone, province-wide the IIO opened 238 files (IIO, 2020). British Columbia currently has one of the most comprehensive independent oversight mechanisms in Canada. Nevertheless, Statistics Canada reports that British Columbia police have had the lowest public confidence ratings amongst Canadian police agencies (Cotter, 2015).

Curiously, public oversight of professional conduct is not a direct measure within the rating system used by Statistics Canada to explore the reasons for public confidence levels in the police. It is not surprising then that over the history of public engagement in police conduct review systems it has not been established whether this involvement actually achieves the goal of raising public confidence (Murphy & McKenna, 2014; Walker, 2006, p. 21). Further, it has not been clarified which of the components of civilian oversight, involvement or authority in a model most impact public confidence in the police: complaint processing, investigation, adjudication, discipline, or appeal. This paper seeks to find answers in the literature to these questions.

Research on Civilian Involvement in Police Conduct Review

There is informative literature on external citizen oversight programs, but little research focused on the theory that public engagement in police conduct review will change policing for the better and improve public confidence in the police (Miller, 2002, p. 16; Walker, 2006, p. 20; Livingston, 2003, p. 653). These writings document many examples where oversight agencies have been perceived as ineffectual at meeting their stated or implicit goals (Miller, 2002, p. 3).

One key measure of ‘effectiveness’ often referred to in discussions on complaint systems is the ratio of matters dismissed or deemed unsubstantiated (Miller, 2002, p. 3). It is often believed that with civilian involvement alone the number of complaints submitted would rise, as would substantiation rates. However, the arguments over rates of complaints and substantiation levels are based on speculations rather than evidence (Miller, 2002, p. 2). Complaint rates are the product of a complex of possible factors and are difficult to interpret. The apprehending by police of people committing offences motivates retaliation through misconduct allegations, and as a consequence most complaint systems in actuality have very low substantiation rates (Prenzler & Ronkin, 2001, p. 155). Rising complaint numbers may reflect a number of possibilities; greater police misconduct, raised confidence in the complaint process, or increased abuse of the system. Dropping numbers could mean improved police conduct, growing citizen disaffection with the complaint system, or lowered misuse of the process (Prenzler & Ronkin, 2001, p. 156). In a British study it was noted that for nearly twenty years the annual British Crime Survey found that about 80 percent of people surveyed who stated they were ‘really annoyed with the police’ did not use the complaint process (Smith, 2009, p. 250). There is no clarification what ‘annoyed’ means, and so this research speaks not only to the impact of the public’s perceptions of the system, but additionally points to the questionable value of giving meaning to complaint data for it is often unclear what it actually represents.

If greater confidence in the police is positively correlated to community engagement in conduct review, then the Canadian Aboriginal experience would be expected to show dismally low trust due to negligible community involvement. The 2009 General Social Survey assessed Aboriginal people’s confidence in the police and found that a majority of the respondents had confidence in the police (Cao, 2014, p. 509). This research begins to suggest that citizen engagement in conduct review may perhaps not be significantly related to confidence in the police.

Research on Public Confidence in Police

In Canada, the government every five years surveys Canadians confidence in institutions. The General Social Survey uses a scripted interview of participants obtained through random digit dialing. The data from the 2013 and 2014 surveys included 27,695 respondents in 2013 and 33,127 respondents in 2014. The police were the institution holding the highest level of public confidence, with 76% of Canadians having either a great deal or some confidence. As a leading agency in regards to public confidence, the study then analysed the police more deeply. The findings verify that police performance factors in regards to competence, accessibility, and treatment of people significantly affect the level of public confidence in the police (Goldsmith, 2005, p. 454; Jackson & Bradford, 2010, p. 248).

Several theorists posit that views regarding police and of governance bodies are connected in that when there is a lack of social cohesion and equity, public trust in all government institutions is diminished (Goldsmith, 2005, p. 444; Morris, 2015, p. 417). There is research evidence in support of this premise. Based on 2003 Statistics Canada data, a correlation was identified between social cohesion and confidence in Canada’s public institutions (Roberts, 2007, p. 155). Another significant study was the 2005 to 2008 World Values Survey (WVS). This research explored people’s beliefs and values in 53 countries, with 70,959 respondents; who were asked about their level of confidence in the police as well as their level of perceived government corruption. The research showed a very strong, positive correlation between a person’s level of political trust and their level of confidence in the police. Life satisfaction had the second largest positive relationship to confidence in the police (Morris, 2005, p. 423). General social cohesion, equity, and prosperity appear to create confidence in the governing bodies and institutions that are seen as responsible for creating or diminishing these (Goldsmith, 2005, p. 465; Skogan, 2006, p. 100). Alternatively, crime and disorder are vivid measures of social disorder and so the poor performance of government (Skogan, 2006, p. 103). As Canada has strong governance and a high level of social stability, the rating of police should be higher than many other countries. International research comparisons find this to be true (Roberts, 2007, p. 175).

Perhaps the best illustration of public confidence in the police being a product of both police performance and effective governance is the experience of New York City. Starting in the late 1990s it transformed from a deteriorating high crime urban centre to one of America’s safest large cities. While violent and property crimes dropped more than one-half, complaints against police surged; from 2000 to 2005 rising 65% (Landau, 2004). The active enforcement of misdemeanour crimes produced frequent allegations of ‘abuse of authority’. Yet, it is common knowledge that public confidence in the New York police and public officials soared as the streets became safer.

Research into the impact of interpersonal contact between a police officer and a citizen has found that a single encounter may profoundly influence perceptions of the police. This impact is passed on to the citizen’s friends, family, and community as well (Goldsmith, 2005, p. 454). The evidence suggests that results of encounters are strongly asymmetrical. Having a positive experience does little. While a perceived ‘bad’ experience results in a dramatic drop in confidence of the police (Skogan, 2006, p. 112; Merry et al., 2012, p. 123). This pattern of outcome is not limited to police, but is similar with other government services (Skogan, 2006, p. 106).

Discussion

Though civilian involvement in police conduct review has been the result of perceived failures of police leadership followed by political reaction, the idea of civilian involvement does appear to have a coherent ideological basis reflective of the social movements of the 1960s. Civilian oversight feels logical and principled. It may also be intuitive that citizen involvement in police conduct review should raise confidence in the police, however the literature indicates that this is not necessarily the case. Research identifies that support for the police is a product of quality service, positive community-police relations, general social cohesion, and the perceived overall ethical state of government and its institutions.

Studies have found that the current models of civilian involvement generally have also failed to address police misconduct. False expectations over what would be achieved has led to public frustration and disenchantment with oversight bodies (Phillips & Trone, 2002, p. 4). Numerous civilian conduct review agencies have been abolished while others have endured despite being considered as failures (Clarke, 2009, p. 1). The usual mandate of searching for culpable misconduct and then disciplining is recognized to be only one component of a needed comprehensive strategy required to improve policing (Livingston, 2003, p. 65; Phillips & Trone, 2002, pp. 5-6). Compelled civilian oversight has also most often caused resistance from police leadership and rank and file. Police begrudge that citizens have no expertise regarding the realities of the police profession nor experience in managing police organizations (Ferdik et al., 2013, p. 114). Moreover, civilian oversight agencies invariably develop a primary self-interest to be in the spotlight and to be seen as essential and engaged. To do so they promote a constant narrative of regular serious police transgressions and the inability of police agencies to deal with them. For human beings, negative information registers much more profoundly than positive news (Stoycheva, 2019). Therefore, paradoxically, this unremitting bad news itself contributes to diminished public confidence in the police (de Haas, 2020).

Recommendations

The need to effectively address any police misconduct remains critically important. Several theorists therefore advocate for the strengthening of police organizations’ own controls, but in a joint cooperative manner (Phillips & Trone, 2002, p. 4; Murphy & McKenna, 2014; Smith, 2009, p. 259). It is proposed that citizen collaboration with police focus on shared analysis of complaints to identify and resolve systemic problems related to management, supervision, training, or other factors that cause or perpetuate misconduct (Phillips & Trone, 2002, pp. 5-6; Livingston, 2003, p. 658).

The value of continuing to have citizens directly engaged in police culpable conduct review systems appears questionable. Police conduct review requires police expertise and ownership. (Smith, 2009, p. 257; Prenzler & Ronkin, 2001, p. 176). What does remain is the need for public transparency and accountability of police misconduct and conduct review mechanisms. Policy makers will need to find new ways to achieve this while having review processes under the auspices of police agencies [*see notation below ].

There is also literature that promotes civilian involvement in informal resolution processes for complaints or for community-police conflicts. Complainants or communities are often more interested in an apology or acknowledgement of their feelings than in a determination of guilt or a punitive sanction (Prenzler & Ronkin, 2001, p. 171). Conflict professionals often find informal processes most beneficial in resolving animosities stemming from isolated incidents.

Finally, as the literature informs that resolutions involving citizen involvement in conduct review of police officers will not produce increased confidence in the police, initiatives should be focused on those that do build trust; improving quality of police services, bettering interpersonal relations with police, and enriching community cohesion.

Research Gaps

Qualitative research that directly surveys citizens’ perceptions on how important civilian involvement in oversight functions are for their confidence in police would be of value. Research over what might motivate complaints or conversely the reluctance to complain would assist in understanding a measure that is often referred to but not really understood. The belief that public confidence in police positively impacts police functioning also appears more of a supposition than an empirically verified fact. In Britain several years ago ‘public confidence’ as the paramount performance indicator for police was abandoned and replaced with ‘the fight against crime’ (Jackson & Bradford, 2010, p. 241). This suggests that public confidence in the police was no longer seen by the British as essential to police effectiveness. As resources and energy are placed into programs believed to build trust, research on this relationship would be valuable.

Closing

When negative news reports of police activities generate destructive mistrust, division, or conflict in police-community relations, the literature informs that policy-makers are not served by responding to calls for civilian involvement in conduct review. The constructive response to reports of troubles is best served by underscoring perceptions of moral government and public institutions, utilizing transparent review processes, and promoting high quality, caring police services. The literature suggests that a resilient public trust in police that can withstand difficult events appears founded on a collaboration that has built exceptional police conduct, rather than a dwelling on misconduct.

* Since writing this paper, I have become aware of Justice Tullock's recommendations in Ontario for the establishment of a professional provincial police college that, as with other professions, would set standards, license officers and hold them accountable. A properly transparent process to review public trust conduct by a professional college has considerable merit.

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