DEMEANOR AND ARREST REVISITED: RECONSIDERING THE DIRECT EFFECT OF DEMEANOR

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper re-examines the contention that legal variables accounted for most of the direct effect of citizen's demeanor on subsequent arrest. The data used in this analysis were collected in a study of the interaction between police and the mentally ill. These data were not restricted to mentally ill offenders only, but consisted of observations of police interactions with all citizens during the shift. Data were collected on 1989 non-traffic police citizen interactions from 1980 to 1981 in two districts of Chicago. Logistic regression results indicate that demeanor exerts a strong significant effect on arrest even with legal variables included in the model. Suggestions for future research are discussed.