Researchers in the United States believe that disseminating information about our local police officers around our neighborhoods may help to reduce crime.

Rather than relying solely on what others know about us, they discovered that our perception of anonymity is influenced by what others know about us.

People frequently believe that their social relationships with others are symmetrical, however this is not always the case.

Anuj Shah and Michael LaForest used traditional lab-based psychology studies to demonstrate how learning more about others may lead us to feel they know more about us as well.

We may feel less anonymous, believing that our thoughts and actions are more visible to others than they actually are.

According to previous research, people who believe that others know more about them and are more aware of their actions are less likely to engage in dishonest or harmful behavior.

However, if people believe that others know more about them and are more aware of their actions, they may be less likely to engage in such behavior.

The scientists chose 69 public housing units in New York City to see how the social inequities they discovered in the lab would affect perceptions and actions.

Thirty-nine of these were given information about local cops (such as their favorite foods, sports teams, and hobbies); the remaining 30 were employed as a control group and were not given any interventions.

They then polled 1,858 residents about what officers knew about them and how probable they thought it was that an officer would know whether or not they had committed a crime.

For the first three months following the intervention, the authors estimated a 5–7% drop in crime in neighbourhoods that received the information compared to those that did not, a reduction comparable to that seen when police presence is increased in a specific area.

Residents who had more knowledge on local officers may have assumed authorities would be more aware of their illegal activities, thereby reducing their criminal behavior, according to the authors.

This could explain why officers’ door-to-door visits are more effective in reducing crime than other community policing elements like neighborhood monitors or storefront cops.

Although more comprehensive reforms are needed to minimize inequities and promote public trust in policing, the authors conclude that providing the public with more information about neighborhood officers could help reduce crime.

Source: 10.1038/s41586-022-04452-3

Image Credit: Getty

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