Should police officers who use force against peaceful protesters be punished? A national experiment
May 19th, 2025
The article “Should police officers who use force against peaceful protesters be punished? A national experiment”, published in the Journal of Experimental Criminology, explores public opinion regarding sanctions for police officers who use force against peaceful protesters. Conducted by Thompson, Metcalfe, and Pickett, the study is based on a nationally representative factorial survey experiment involving 1,000 participants selected via YouGov. The results show that, in general, Americans consider the use of force against peaceful protesters to be morally wrong and believe that the officers responsible should be punished. The study also highlights that public evaluations of police behavior are less influenced by situational details and more by underlying political and racial attitudes. In other words, the findings suggest that deep ideological and racial divisions strongly shape public opinions on law enforcement and the right to protest.
For more information about the article, click here.