Does being guilty cause police avoidance?
Stops by police must be made upon reasonable suspicion, and the courts have found that using suspect movements, like distancing oneself from the police, can be used to support reasonable suspicion. The justification for this appears to be based solely on the commonsense justification that guilty peo...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
International journal of comparative and applied criminal justice
Year: 2025, Volume: 49, Issue: 4, Pages: 367-388 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Keywords: |
| Summary: | Stops by police must be made upon reasonable suspicion, and the courts have found that using suspect movements, like distancing oneself from the police, can be used to support reasonable suspicion. The justification for this appears to be based solely on the commonsense justification that guilty people are more likely to avoid the police. Here, this guilt-avoidance effect was tested in two studies. In Study 1 (N = 22), guilt was manipulated via a mock drug crime, and participant’s distance from an individual dressed as a police officer was measured. Furtive movements were also coded. In Study 2 (N = 350), guilt was manipulated by having participants watch a video of an individual committing a burglary and imagining themselves as the ones committing the crime. Participants then decided which direction to go when they watched a second video of them approaching either a police officer, the same person in plain clothes, or no person. Overall, there was mixed evidence that guilty people would avoid the police. The effects of race and past deviant behaviour of participants were also explored. |
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| ISSN: | 2157-6475 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/01924036.2024.2440359 |
