Researching Law Fall 2020 - Flipbook - Page 10
R ESEA RC HI N G L AW
to go unrecognized, despite
protests occurring over similar
incidents.
“Right now, there has been a lot of
media attention to protest and
activism,” says Burch. “Still, most
victims don’t get covered in their
local paper.”
“The question is, what is it about
the few victims we do know about
that generates such a wide-ranging
response?”
To understand why the few names
that gain widespread attention
generate such a response, Burch
notes other factors that may affect
the publics’ perception. These
factors include the victim’s race and
gender, the city where they reside,
and even if the city has had issues
with police killings in the past.
Burch also finds that proximity
affected survey respondents’
personal connection to the victim,
which leads to selective exposure to
these incidents.
Framing of Officer-Involved
Killings
Burch’s evidence reveals that, in
general, officer-involved killings do
not necessarily heighten political
interest, even if the black victim is
highly visible. Instead, her study
indicates that “only killings that are
framed as unjustified, threatening,
or discriminatory should heighten
political interest among young
blacks.” According to Burch, the
presentation and framing of police
encounters affect the public’s
evaluation of police-involved
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killings. She notes that “different
frames place emphasis on alternate
facts or make new circumstances
relevant or salient in ways that can
alter public opinion.”
Burch says that the idea of fairness,
particularly with respect to racial
discrimination, is an important
frame for thinking about police
encounters. To support this, she
refers to Mark Peffley and Jon
Hurwitz’s 2010 book, Justice in
America: The Separate Realities of
Blacks and Whites, which finds
that individual beliefs about
system fairness contribute to
evaluations of police use of force.
According to Peffley and Hurwitz,
“people who see the system as fair
are less likely to see police use of
force as problematic.” A framing of
this system might invoke the fear of
crime, highlighting the necessity of
tough policing practices for
keeping citizens safe from
dangerous criminals.
Another frame that is often used
for a police-involved killing is the
characteristics or behavior of the
person killed. In evaluating fault,
the public may ask if the person
According to Burch,
the presentation and
framing of police
encounters affect the
public’s evaluation
of police-involved
killings.
killed was doing something to
threaten the life of the officer or
another bystander. In the case
of Tennessee v. Garner (1985),
the Supreme Court found that
an officer shooting a person to
defend themselves or another
person from imminent danger to
be a legitimate use of lethal force.
According to Burch, perceptions of
danger can vary across situations,
and attitudes toward victims can
influence whether observers believe
police actions against suspects are
justified. Within this frame, racial
bias toward victims can influence
whether the public interprets
police actions as just or unjust.
Traditional media plays a key role
in framing victims of policeinvolved killings since it is usually
the first actor in moving the
narrative forward in these events.
The media shapes the narrative of
a given case through headlines,
uncovering scandals, and
humanizing victims. Media can
also frame the public response to a
given incident, including protests,
as a means of accountability for
government officials.
By highlighting the role of
perceptions of victim behavior in
generating public attention, this
research highlights the importance
of activists and the media in
publicizing and producing counternarratives of officer-involved
killings.
“The details of the victims, to
humanize them, and about the
incident really matter,” says Burch.