NCJ Number
14373
Date Published
Unknown
Length
13 pages
Annotation
THIS PAPER EXAMINES THE INCIDENCE AND EFFECTS OF THE PRESENCE OF DRUNKEN AND SOBER CITIZENS IN ENCOUNTERS WITH POLICE OFFICERS IN A LARGE MIDWESTERN CITY.
Abstract
THREE HUNDRED ENCOUNTERS WERE GATHERED BY PARTICIPANT OBSERVERS RIDING IN RANDOMLY SELECTED POLICE PATROL CARS USING A MODIFIED RECORDING DEVICE (MINNESOTA INTERACTION DATA CODING AND REDUCTION SYSTEM) DESIGNED TO QUANTITATIVELY RECORD THE VERBAL AND NONVERBAL INTERACTION PROCESSES BETWEEN POLICE OFFICERS AND CITIZENS. IN ADDITION, THE NATURE OF THE SITUATION THAT BROUGHT THE CITIZENS AND OFFICERS TOGETHER AS WELL AS THE DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CITIZEN ACTORS WERE RECORDED WITH THIS INSTRUMENTATION. IT WAS FOUND THAT NEARLY 16 PERCENT OF THE ENCOUNTERS CONTAINED AT LEAST ONE CITIZEN WHO WAS DRUNK. WHEN THESE DRUNK ENCOUNTERS WERE COMPARED TO ENCOUNTERS IN WHICH ALL CITIZENS PRESENT WERE SOBER, IT WAS FOUND THAT SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DRUNK ENCOUNTERS INVOLVED SOME TYPE OF INTERPERSONAL DISPUTE USING THE CHI SQUARE TEST OF STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. WHEN DRUNK AND SOBER ENCOUNTERS WERE COMPARED IN TERMS OF THE ECOLOGICAL SPACE OF THE CITY IN WHICH THEY OCCURRED, SITUATIONAL SPACE AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CITIZENS, NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND. USING ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE TO COMPARE THE NATURE OF THE COMMUNICATIVE ACTS IN DRUNK AND SOBER ENCOUNTERS REVEALED THAT BOTH CITIZENS AND OFFICERS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DISRESPECTFUL OR DISMIENING IN DRUNK ENCOUNTERS. FURTHER, DRUNK ENCOUNTERS WERE FOUND TO CONTAIN SIGNIFICANTLY MORE POTENTIAL OR ACTUAL ACTS OF HOSTILITY, PHYSICAL ACTION AND VIOLENCE THAN SOBER ENCOUNTERS. THE DATA WAS THEN ANALYZED USING MULTIPLE CORRELATION TECHNIQUES TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF THE COMMUNICATIVE ACTS ON SERIOUSNESS OF POLICE DISPOSITIONS IN DRUNK ENCOUNTERS. THIS REVEALED THAT THE FREQUENCY OF OFFICER DISMIENANCE AND POTENTIAL OR ACTUAL ACTS OF HOSTILITY, PHYSICAL ACTION AND VIOLENCE WERE POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH SERIOUSNESS OF POLICE DISPOSITION. THIS WAS TRUE EVEN WHEN THE FREQUENCY OF THE CITIZEN'S DISMIENANCE WAS PARTIALLED OUT. THESE VARIABLES WERE THEN APPLIED TO REGRESSION ANALYSIS AND IT WAS FOUND THAT THEY ACCOUNTED FOR THE GREATEST PERCENTAGE OF EXPLAINED VARIANCE IN POLICE DISPOSITION. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THE PREVIOUS FINDING BY I. PILLIAVAN AND S BRIAN, A. REISS AND D. BLACK IN RELATION TO POLICE DISPOSITION AND A CITIZEN'S DISRESPECT SHOULD BE RE-EXAMINED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE POLICE OFFICER'S DISRESPECTFUL AND POTENTIAL OR ACTUAL ACTS OF HOSTILITY, PHYSICAL ACTION, AND VIOLENCE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)