Force and Fallout: Experimental Evidence from a National Test of the Community Expectations Standard
ORCID
0000-0002-7423-0090
Keywords
use of force, Community Expectations Standard, Reasonableness divide, Public perception, Police legitimacy, Political partisanship
Abstract
A persistent ``reasonableness divide'' exists between the legal standards governing police use of force and the public’s expectations, producing ``lawful but awful'' uses of force. This study empirically tests the ``Community Expectations Standard'' (CES), a model that identifies five criteria the public uses to evaluate force: underlying governmental interest, avoidability, officer motivation, subject resistance, and the presence of a ``highly dangerous'' environment. Using a factorial survey experiment with a national sample of nearly 2,000 U.S. adults, we analyzed responses to a hypothetical vignette depicting non-lethal force using t-tests and Bayesian linear regression models. The results show that underlying governmental interest and subject resistance—those factors with analogs in constitutional law— are the most powerful predictors of reasonableness judgments. In contrast, other CES factors were weaker, with their effects potentially filtered through the observer's personal characteristics. Notably, political partisanship emerged as a more potent predictor of reasonableness appraisals than race or ethnicity, suggesting partisanship acts as a primary lens for interpreting police use of force. We conclude that the CES framework is a valuable tool but should be refined to distinguish between objective, event-based criteria and subjective, observer-based criteria. Bridging the reasonableness divide requires adjusting both law enforcement practices and public expectations.
Publication Date
11-17-2025
Original Citation
Marier, C. J. & Goodwin, C. 2025. Force and fallout: Experimental evidence from a national test of the community expectations standard. Journal of Criminal Justice, 102. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102571
Document Type
Paper
Copyright Status
Author retained
Publication Version
Post-print
Rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
College
College of Community Innovation and Education
Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
Department
Criminal Justice
STARS Citation
Marier, Christopher J. and Goodwin, Conor, "Force and Fallout: Experimental Evidence from a National Test of the Community Expectations Standard" (2025). Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 1341.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/ucfscholar/1341