| Although a body of research exists examining the influence of citizen disrespect on police decision making and use of force, that research is limited in its capacity to appropriately conceptualize citizen disrespect. In fact, little is known about the verbal and nonverbal behaviors that for officers signify disrespect - in the United States and abroad. Utilizing survey data from officers in a mid-sized city police department in the United States and the London Metropolitan Police, this research seeks to understand the breadth of behaviors that officers find disrespectful, to discover how often officers perceive that they are experiencing disrespectful citizens, and to make cross-national comparisons. When assessing officer-based, occupation-based, and country based characteristics, the findings revealed few differences between officers in each country. Additionally, education and experience were found to be positively related to disrespect in both countries and in the U.K., unarmed officers anticipated disrespect more often than armed officers. With a better understanding of officers' perceptions in both countries, future research (including comparative research) can focus on determining what effect, if any, disrespect has on officer decision making. |
