Vaughn J. Crichlow

Florida Atlantic University | FAU · School of Criminology & Criminal Justice

Purpose The current and ongoing police legitimacy crises demand a renewed analysis of the police mission in American law enforcement. This research aims to examine the mission statements of a national sample of police agencies, and generates an organizational typology of contemporary policing styles. Design/methodology/approach Using the responsiv...

Decades of research consistently support the link between poor self-control or deviant friendships with undesirable behavior. Rather than treating these theories as rival explanations, this study presents an assessment that explores a potential interconnection between self-control and social learning (differential association) in the prediction of...

The deaths of Michael Brown and George Floyd at the hands of white police officers have uncovered an apparent legitimacy crisis at the heart of American policing. Drawing on interviews with officers, offenders, practitioners and community members, this book explores policing changes in the 'post-Ferguson' era and informs future policing practice.

In this chapter, we draw on the context of gang culture as an illustrative context for our analysis, and begin by discussing the reactive and proactive approaches that have been used to police gang violence and criminality in minority US neighborhoods over the years. In the main body of the chapter insights from participant observation of police de...

In this chapter, we begin by placing the spotlight on the voices of non-police practitioners who worked closely with racial minority youths in one of the Counties. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews, we outline the insights we gained into the current challenges faced by young racial minority males in local communities, the relationship...

In this concluding chapter, we summarize findings based on ethnographic research in a Southern American State and address the implications of navigating a post-Ferguson era largely characterized by divisiveness and acrimony. We note emerging issues regarding the policing of racial and ethnic minorities and suggest approaches to foster more procedur...

In this opening chapter, we set the scene for the book by referencing the contextual backdrop of increased accountability and change in American policing, the challenges around police-community relations, and the political and public concern about gang-related criminality as a related symptom of these issues across the United States (US). We introd...

In this chapter, we build on the previous discussion by exploring the “warrior” mindset in policing. This mindset is reflected in the highly controversial militaristic strategies that have characterized contemporary policing in many of America’s disadvantaged crime-prone communities. Residents in these locations are often the recipients of disorder...

This chapter turns the spotlight away from practitioner perspectives and onto the views of those who are often most affected by law enforcement strategies – young men in communities of color, and specifically those with offending histories. The chapter draws upon insights from semi-structured interviews conducted in a County jail and in local neigh...

In this chapter, we report on the rise of a somewhat new phenomenon in policing. In doing so, contemporary policing is framed among developing counter-movements that place law enforcement in the middle of oppositional belief systems. Against a backdrop of historical inequalities and lack of law enforcement accountability, we consider the way some h...

In order to understand attitudes toward police in the post-Ferguson era, in this chapter we discuss the rubric of procedural justice and police legitimacy perceptions. We then explore the historical roots of police-community conflict and the ongoing confidence gap in attitudes toward police, and conclude by discussing the impact of Black Lives Matt...

The death of Michael Brown at the hands of a white Ferguson police officer has uncovered an apparent legitimacy crisis at the heart of American policing. Some have claimed that de-policing may have led officers to become less proactive. How exactly has the policing of gangs and violence changed in the ‘post-Ferguson’ era? This book explores this qu...

Community-oriented policing (COP) is arguably the most popular and most misunderstood policing philosophy. Definitional ambiguity contributes to this problem, hampering theoretical development, creative new strategies of implementation, and evidence-based policy. DiMaggio and Powell’s seminal piece on institutional isomorphism provides a framework...

Social media, in the past decade, has been used to hold police accountable for their actions. There has been, however, a paucity of empirical research into how law enforcement uses social media. To explore this issue, this paper uses qualitative data emerging from ethnographic research conducted in a Southern American state. Participant observation...

Against the complex backdrop of a post-modern era, characterised by a renewed emphasis on public accountability, oppositional social and political movements, it has been argued that traditional agents of social control have increasingly begun to experience a sense of disempowerment. Nowhere has this been more apparent than within the context of pol...

In the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, confidence in police has weakened. Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are perceived to increase law enforcement transparency and accountability, and, by proxy, restore law enforcement legitimacy. Though the empirical status of BWCs has grown in recent years, missing from these accounts are the...

The fatal shooting of a young, black, and male citizen named Michael Brown by a white male police officer in Ferguson (MO) generated political and media backlash that continues to erode law enforcement legitimacy today. Law enforcement is sensitive to changes in the public discourse on their profession and has responded in kind. A plethora of discu...

Prior research has examined the impact of community-oriented policing (COP) on crime extensively. While the implementation of community policing has been considered mainly within the context of large police agencies, there is a paucity of research on how COP impacts crime reduction efforts in smaller locales. This study explores the effects of the...

Prior research has examined the salience of civil rights and freedom, core tenets of American life, and their impact on court accessibility and litigiousness. We extend this research by using a nationally representative sample of US and German residents to examine the impact of reported civic involvement and the perceived effectiveness of these act...

There has been a steady increase in security guard employment in the United States in recent decades. Data estimates for 2010 suggest that there are over 10 000 security companies in the United States, employing 1 046 760 guards. While security guards differ from law enforcement officers in many ways, they are similar to the extent that their activ...

Despite relatively little extant research, efforts to expand the use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) in policing are increasing. Although recent research suggests positive impacts of BWCs on reducing police use-of-force and citizen complaints, little is known about community members’ perceptions of BWCs. The current study examined perceptions of reside...

There is growing concern about conflict between police and black urban residents. Police-involved shootings of African American males have become a hot topic in the national discourse on race and policing. Despite this concern, there is still a paucity of research on the depiction of such incidents in the news and the implications for media and cri...

This article uses a narrative approach to explore Black identity and alienation in the academy. It discusses the dearth of Black criminologists and the potential consequences of the underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in higher education. The researcher uses critical race theory as a framework for understanding these challenges. The...

Community attitudes toward the police are of increasing concern to scholars and practitioners. Although it is widely accepted that perceptions of procedural justice are influential in shaping citizens’ attitudes toward police, prior studies have not considered its relationship to crime density. To address this gap, we examined the relationship betw...

Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) is a multi-ethnic Caribbean nation currently experiencing problems with disorder and violent crime. In response, practitioners have considered the merits of introducing broken windows policing. This article examines the literature on zero tolerance policing, also known as ‘broken windows policing,’ and explores the dangers...

Detroit is known for its socio-economic problems and its high crime rates. These issues are harmful to the business community, however, little is known about business owners’ experiences and perceptions in high-crime environments. This qualitative study examines the challenges facing business owners and highlights Arab and Chaldean participants’ pe...

Many people are enthusiastic about the potential benefits of police body-worn cameras (BWC). Despite this enthusiasm, however, there has been no research on law enforcement command staff perceptions of BWCs. Given the importance that law enforcement leadership plays in the decision to adopt and implement BWCs, it is necessary to assess their percep...

Most agree that police officers cannot do their jobs effectively without the support of community members. However, little is known about the perceptions of small business owners who could potentially make a meaningful contribution to safety and security in such communities. There is also a paucity of research on immigrant-owned businesses in disor...

Several core propositions of self-control theory were tested utilizing self-reported data gathered from university students in Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. The results provide some support for the claim that ineffective parenting decreases self-control and strong support for the proposition that self-control increases deviant...