William King, a professor of Criminal Justice, has co-authored a new paper titled “Resurrecting individual differences: Toward a theory of police officer behavior,” published in the journal Crime & Delinquency.
The publication presents an early interdisciplinary and causal theory about how individual police officers behave. The authors note that while research on police actions such as arrests, use of force, and service has been ongoing for decades, the field still lacks a comprehensive theory that explains these behaviors.
King and his colleagues draw on studies related to gene-environment correlation to suggest how genetics, environmental choices at both micro and macro levels, intelligence, and self-control may shape the conduct of police officers. The paper proposes organizing various types of police behavior into two main continuums: action versus inaction and deviance within policing.
The article concludes by offering several hypotheses based on this theoretical framework.
