“I Almost Quit”: Exploring the Prevalence of the Ferguson Effect in Two Small Sized Law Enforcement Agencies in Rural Southcentral Virginia

• Published in: Qualitative report Vol. 24; no. 7; pp. 1747 - 1764
• Main Author: Adams, Joshua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fort Lauderdale Nova Southeastern University, Inc 01.07.2019; The Qualitative Report
• Subjects: Accountability; Brown, Michael; Citizens; Coding; Community Relations; Criminal investigations; Criminal justice; Criminals; Departments; Evaluative Thinking; Interviews; Justice; Law enforcement; Leadership; Legitimacy; Organization theory; Participant Observation; Perceptions; Phenomenology; Police; Police community relations; Police departments; Police officers; Race; Race relations; Reaction Time; Rural areas; Self Efficacy; Semi Structured Interviews; Social media; Social networks; Social research; Structural Analysis (Linguistics); Structural Analysis (Science); Structured Interviews; Studies; Urban Areas; Violent crime; Wilson, Darren; Virginia; Missouri; United States > US
• ISSN: 1052-0147; 2160-3715
• DOI: 10.46743/2160-3715/2019.4019

Recent negatively publicized police-citizen interactions in the media, followed by a subsequent de-policing of police in the United States, has been named the Ferguson Effect. The Ferguson Effect has been explored by prominent scholars in the criminal justice community; however, little is known about how police officers in small rural police agencies perceive the Ferguson Effect. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of police officers regarding the Ferguson Effect in small rural police agencies, as well as police officers’ perceptions of their own organizational justice. Organizational justice theory was utilized as the theoretical lens for this study. Research questions focused on exploring police officers’ perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of the Ferguson Effect phenomenon and willingness to partner with the community. Purposeful sampling was utilized and semi structured interviews were conducted of nine active sworn law enforcement personnel in southcentral Virginia. Data were analyzed through in vivo coding, pattern coding, and structural analysis utilizing NVivo 11 Pro. Themes included: (a) racial division, (b) rush to judgment, and (c) steadfast leadership. Findings indicated participants demanded clear and fair policies and procedures from leadership, increased effort of transparency in policing, feelings of racial tension, and the need to regain community trust post-Ferguson.