Introduction
In this technological age, the media has become a crucial tool that influences how society perceives police officers. Most people do not have direct or prolonged contact with police officers or the criminal justice system. When such contact happens, it is merely at traffic stops or random encounters that are far in between. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that only 21% of citizens have direct contact with police officers in a year (Bain, Robinson &Conser, 2014). This information shows that most people do not get sufficient contact with the police that would enable them to form accurate perceptions about police and police culture. These perceptions are, therefore, formed from the interaction and exposure to various media outlets. The depictions of the media on the police, whether accurate or not, have far-reaching implications on policy and public opinion (Cordner, 2017). The purpose of this paper is to research how the media impacts public perception of police officers by addressing the research question : how does the media impact policing? Different types of media, and their unique impact on policing, will be discussed. The hypothesis assumed in this paper is that the media has an impact on the way society perceives police officers because of the information they choose to disclose.
In the United States, policing has come under intense scrutiny because of the numerous instances of use of deadly force by the police on unarmed civilians, most of them black (Hesketh& Williams, 2017). These incidents have received wide media coverage that has turned into negative publicity for the police. The constant negative publicity of the police has brought about a legitimacy crisis fueled by the growing evidence of racial bias and misconduct (Nix & Pickett, 2017). As a result, a large segment of the population has begun to perceive the police as untrustworthy individuals who operate with impunity and lack of ethics. These perceptions have counterproductive effects whereby police officers pull back from proactive policing activities, hence leading to a rise in the rate of criminal activities. This de-policing process has been given several tags over the years including the ‘viral video effect’ and the ‘Ferguson effect.’ Apart from leading to a rise in crime levels, de-policing has other potential consequences such as volatile police-civilian interactions as well as injuries or fatalities to police and civilians (Miethe, Venger& Lieberman, 2019).
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Media Effects on Viewers
In recent years, there has been an unprecedented growth in the technology sector that has seen the introduction of portable video devices such as aerial drones, vehicle dash-cams, police body-cams, video-sharing websites, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras among others (Williams, Fedorowicz, Kavanaugh, Mentzer, Thatcher &Xu, 2018). These devices, in addition to the traditional media outlets such as televisions, have been used to collect and distribute an unlimited supply of content, most of it unregulated. Video images and pictures of police officers using excessive physical force have become common because of the increased use of these gadgets and media outlets. Today, many social media websites, television news reports, and newspaper reports contain videos of lethal police encounters with civilians which, in turn, have contributed to increased scrutiny of police practices (Nix & Wolfe, 2015).
Most citizens develop their perceptions about the police and general law enforcement from media sources because they have limited direct experiences with police officers. The shaping of the messages disseminated by the media affects police-related attitudes. For example, messages that are framed to emphasize particular facts or attributes tend to influence the public towards the emphasized opinions. Police use of force (PUF) has recently become a popular topic of coverage by the mainstream media as well as other contemporary types of media (Wolfe, Jones & Baumgartner, 2013).
The increased media attention on police activities that involve incidences of PUF is mainly enabled by the availability of media devices such as cell phones and body cameras. These media devices have made it easy for the public to capture video images of police activities and incidents. The information gathered is often distributed through social media and television news among others. In most cases, these captured PUF incidents are attached to social media where they go ‘viral’ within a short time (Williams, Fedorowicz, Kavanaugh, Mentzer, Thatcher &Xu, 2018).
Although it is clear that the media contributes to the shaping of public opinion and attitudes towards the police and criminal justice system in general, there is little research on the extent to which public perception on the police are influenced by the different media sources or the details of the media content. Most of the studies that have been done on this matter focus on the cultivation theory. This is a theory that was researched and written by Larry Gross and George Gerbnerin 1976 where the two authors hypothesized that an increase in the consumption of television content distorts the perception of reality. Several other studies have sought to expand on this theory by applying it to the criminal justice field (Miethe, Venger& Lieberman, 2019).
Attitude towards Police
Public support of police activities and agencies is an essential factor in effective policing. Most police interventions occur when citizens make reports and follow up on complaints hence making it important for the public to establish trust with the police (Hesketh& Williams, 2017).However, the lack of direct contact with the police makes many people use media reports as their reference points for their perception and attitudes towards the police. The exposure to certain types of content within different media outlets shapes the views of the public and affects the relationship between the police and civilians. Negative police perception is, therefore, the major contributor to the formation of public perceptions about the police (Hesketh& Williams, 2017).
Negative Police Publicity
When an unarmed black teenager was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, the incident received widespread media coverage by various outlets within the country and abroad. The civil unrest that happened in the weeks after the incident also received extensive media coverage. Similar incidents in other cities were captured on video and the content distributed across the internet as well as the mainstream media. Each of these incidents caused public outrage about what was described as the use of excessive force by the police (Miethe, Venger& Lieberman, 2019). The civil unrest over the shooting in Ferguson led to a fatal encounter between civilians and the police when two police officers were ambushed in their patrol car. A few months later, a shooter in Dallas ambushed and killed five police officers, with a similar incident happening in Louisiana.
Although the shooting in Ferguson was not the first of its kind, the wide coverage of the incident in social media and mainstream news was unprecedented. Different media outlets increasingly scrutinized law enforcement following the incident creating a narrative of negativity that painted the police in a bad light. The increased media coverage and negative attention towards law enforcement fueled public anger and shaped public attitudes and perceptions towards the police (Miethe, Venger& Lieberman, 2019).
Negative police publicity has far-reaching potential consequences. The first of these would be the disruption of order and destruction of property. When the media direct a lot of negative attention towards the police, the public gets charged with anger and frustrations that lead to civil unrests (Wolfe, Jones & Baumgartner, 2013). Most of these civil unrests, as seen in the case of the Ferguson shooting, are not peaceful demonstrations. Violence, destruction of property, looting, and stagnation of economic activities can all be associated with the civil unrests caused by negative police publicity in the media. Second, police officers may respond to an increase in negative publicity by pulling back from proactive policing activities. If such happens, criminals get encouraged to offend leading to a rise in crime rates across the country (Wolfe, Jones & Baumgartner, 2013).
In cases where police officers pull back from proactive policing activities, they do so in fear of scandal. This means that unfavorable media coverage can also be responsible for the formation of civilian perception by the police (Cordner, 2017). If the police believe that the unfavorable media coverage that they are getting from media outlets is going to make the civilians unreasonable, emotionally charged, and provocative, then they will avoid such encounters as much as possible. Even though an increase in crime rates is the major consequence of negative police publicity in the media, there are other effects of such a situation (Cordner, 2017).
Police morale and motivation is negatively affected by unfavorable media coverage. Police officers may feel a drop in their motivation and morale levels when the media ignores all the positive contributions they make to society and focus on broadcasting negativity. In addition to that, negative police publicity creates an ‘us versus them’ culture where the public and the police view each other as adversaries. This culture affects policing by influencing the way that police officers perform their duties (Miethe, Venger& Lieberman, 2019).
Police officers do not like being involved in public scandals. When there is negative police publicity, police officers become more cautious when handling various situations for fear of being accused of wrongdoing. This fear may cause the police officers to hesitate in instances that require them to use coercive force or take stern action. This fear opens up opportunities for offenders or suspects apprehended by the police to use violence against the officers causing bodily harm or destruction of property (Cordner, 2017).
The attitude of civilians towards the police changes depending on the exposure they get from the media. In the example given above about the shooting in Ferguson, many people formed the perception that any police shooting cannot be justified after that incident. Here, many people questioned the legitimacy of the police and the dissemination of procedural justice in the criminal justice system (Nix & Wolfe, 2015).
Social Media
Social media is a relatively new way of collecting and sharing information through the Internet. The allure of this type of media is based on the ability to publish instant information such as video live feeds (Nix & Wolfe, 2015). The growth of social media in recent years means that many people are exposed to information shared in this type of media. Since its inception, social media has had a significant impact on policing where negative and positive benefits have been realized. In instances when law enforcement receives negative publicity, social media is always at the center of such campaigns. The inability of the social media companies to effectively regulate the content shared on their platforms leaves a loophole for the publication and broadcasting of content that paints the police in a negative light (Nix & Wolfe, 2015).
However, social media can be used as a tool to improve and promote a positive perception of the police. Various police departments, for example, have turned to the use of social media to fight crime and interact with the public (Bain, Robinson &Conser, 2014). The ability to make fast and instant interactions in social media can help the police in serving the public and establishing a positive perception. Information from the police can be delivered to the public quickly and effectively using various social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Police in the UK and the USA have effectively used social media in recent years to fight crime as well as influence public perception through constant interactions in these systems. In addition to that, most police departments in the USA have turned to the use of websites that are designed to support their local communities (Cordner, 2017).
Conclusion
The media is continually expanding to serve the increasing consumer demands. Media expansion has led to the growth and establishment of various media outlets such as television, social media, and websites. The increased use of media to document human activities has affected the work and effectiveness of police officers in the United States and other countries. The impact of the media on policing can either produce positive or negative results that influence the perception and attitudes of the public.
Negative police publicity in the media can lead to an eruption of violence and disruption of order as was the case in the weeks after the shooting in Ferguson. When the media paints the police in a bad light, the public forms perceptions that make them believe that the police are not legitimate peacekeepers. In other instances, negative police publicity in the media makes police officers to pull back from proactive policing activities. When this happens, criminals take advantage of the situation leading to a rise in crime rates. Furthermore, negative coverage of the police in the media affects their morale since the support of the public is crucial in the effective dissemination of police work.
Police can also use the media to create a positive image of law enforcement. Social media and websites are popular ways that have been used by police in the USA and the UK to fight crime. In addition to that, various social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook can be effectively used for constant communication with the public. Here, members of the public can instantly share any criminal activities, ask questions, air their grievances, or give recommendations about services delivered by the police.
References
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