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Cited by 231Policing Practices and PerceptionsCriminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisMilitary and Defense Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 30 of the 31 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Militarization fails to enhance police safety or reduce crime but may harm police reputation

Open access
Mummolo, Jonathan·2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1805161115PMC PMC6140536
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Abstract

The increasingly visible presence of heavily armed police units in American communities has stoked widespread concern over the militarization of local law enforcement. Advocates claim militarized policing protects officers and deters violent crime, while critics allege these tactics are targeted at racial minorities and erode trust in law enforcement. Using a rare geocoded census of SWAT team deployments from Maryland, I show that militarized police units are more often deployed in communities with large shares of African American residents, even after controlling for local crime rates. Further, using nationwide panel data on local police militarization, I demonstrate that militarized policing fails to enhance officer safety or reduce local crime. Finally, using survey experiments-one of which includes a large oversample of African American respondents-I show that seeing militarized police in news reports may diminish police reputation in the mass public. In the case of militarized policing, the results suggest that the often-cited trade-off between public safety and civil liberties is a false choice.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1805161115

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Figures

Fig. 1. SWAT deployments are more frequent in areas with high concentrations of African Americans. (Top row) Maryland ZCTAs. (Middle row) ZCTAs from three large Maryland agencies. (Bottom row) Maryland counties. Left column shows bivariate relationships. Right column controls for social indicators in corresponding geographic unit. Locally weighted and linear regression fits are shown. Variables are plotted on log scales.
Fig. 1. SWAT deployments are more frequent in areas with high concentrations of African Americans. (Top row) Maryland ZCTAs. (Middle row) ZCTAs from three large Maryland agencies. (Bottom row) Maryland counties. Left column shows bivariate relationships. Right column controls for social indicators in corresponding geographic unit. Locally weighted and linear regression fits are shown. Variables are plotted on log scales.CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central
Fig. 2. Obtaining a SWAT team does not reduce crime or improve officer safety. Shown are coefficients from regressions estimating the effect of obtaining a SWAT team on crime and officer safety. Outcomes are logged. Bars are 95% confidence intervals.
Fig. 2. Obtaining a SWAT team does not reduce crime or improve officer safety. Shown are coefficients from regressions estimating the effect of obtaining a SWAT team on crime and officer safety. Outcomes are logged. Bars are 95% confidence intervals.CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central
Fig. 3. SWAT team deployments exert no detectable effects on crime or officer safety. Shown are coefficients on log(#SWAT Deployments+1) from panel regressions using data from Maryland, FY2010–2014. All outcomes are logged. Bars are 95% confidence intervals.
Fig. 3. SWAT team deployments exert no detectable effects on crime or officer safety. Shown are coefficients on log(#SWAT Deployments+1) from panel regressions using data from Maryland, FY2010–2014. All outcomes are logged. Bars are 95% confidence intervals.CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central
Fig. 4. Experimental manipulation [from Top Left (A) to Bottom Right (D)]. Reprinted with permission from Reuters Pictures/Jessica Rinaldi, Shutterstock/JPL Designs, Associated Press/Jeff Roberson, and The New York Times/Redux Pictures/Whitney Curtis.
Fig. 4. Experimental manipulation [from Top Left (A) to Bottom Right (D)]. Reprinted with permission from Reuters Pictures/Jessica Rinaldi, Shutterstock/JPL Designs, Associated Press/Jeff Roberson, and The New York Times/Redux Pictures/Whitney Curtis.CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central
Fig. 5. Survey experimental results: seeing militarized police may tarnish police reputation. Shown are effects of militarized images in M-Turk (blue) and SSI (red) surveys. Bars are 95% confidence intervals.
Fig. 5. Survey experimental results: seeing militarized police may tarnish police reputation. Shown are effects of militarized images in M-Turk (blue) and SSI (red) surveys. Bars are 95% confidence intervals.CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central
Fig. 6. No heterogeneous effects by race of respondent. Bars are 95% confidence intervals.
Fig. 6. No heterogeneous effects by race of respondent. Bars are 95% confidence intervals.CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. ; Institute for Intergovernmental Research, After-action assessment of the police response to the August 2014 demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri. COPS Office Critical Response Initiative (Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Washington, DC, 2015).

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Metadata

Authors
Mummolo, J.
Affiliations
Princeton University (US)
Corresponding author
Mummolo, Jonathan
ORCID
Mummolo, Jonathan
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2018-08-20
Volume
115
Issue
37
Pages
9181-9186
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1805161115
PMC
PMC6140536
OpenAlex
W2888438187
Cited by
231
References
31
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 3
FWCI
89.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2021-06-28)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (15-571)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Military and Defense Studies
Keywords
police militarization, SWAT teams, police officer safety, crime rates, African American community, racial disparities in policing, police reputation, public trust in law enforcement, civil liberties
MeSH terms
Black or African American, Civil Rights, Crime, Humans, Maryland, Law Enforcement

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