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The Occurrence of Resisting Arrest in Arrest Encounters: A Study of Police-Citizen Violence

1997; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 22; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/073401689702200103

1556-3839

John Kavanagh,

Gun Ownership and Violence Research

This study examines the occurrence of resisting arrest in 1,108 police-citizen arrest encounters at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan between July 1, 1990, and June 30, 1991. The study utilizes the Logit regression procedure to identify factors related to resisting arrest. The most powerful of all the factors tested was arrestee disrespect towards the police officer. Other arrestee factors that were found to be positively related to resisting arrest were the presence of other arrestee violence (besides resisting arrest), arrestee intoxication, and the seriousness of the crime charged. Of more than 30 police officer factors tested, only two attitudinal factors were found to be related to resisting arrest: Desiring to remain a police officer was negatively related, and believing that the law governing the use of force is overly restrictive of the police was positively related. Among the situational factors tested, arrests initiated by police officers were found to be positively related to resisting arrest. The results suggest that police officers may play a smaller role in the occurrence of resisting arrest than had been thought. The implication of this finding is that future researchers should devote greater attention to the role of the arrestee in police-citizen violence.