DEMEANOR OR CRIME - WHY HOSTILE CITIZENS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED

It is a criminological axiom that displays of hostility by citizens to wards police officers directly increase the odds of arrest in police-c itizen encounters. This axiom rests on nearly three decades of observa tional research of interactions between police officers and citizens. Two features of this work, however, raise questions about the validity of findings that citizen demeanor independently affects police arrest decisions. First, although demeanor is conceptually defined as legall y permissible behavior, measures of demeanor often include criminal co nduct. Second, criminal conduct is not controlled adequately when the effects of demeanor on arrest are estimated In an analysis employing a demeanor measure that does not confound crime and that controls for c rime more comprehensively, it is found that displays of hostility whic h violate no laws do not increase the likelihood of arrest in and of t hemselves. The implications of this finding are discussed.