This is part of the 2024 Religion & Society Online Seminar Series that takes place on the third Wednesday of the month at 12pm (Sydney time). It is convened by Cristina Rocha & Kathleen Openshaw (Western Sydney University)

Abstract

In an Australian context, there is little research which examines whether officers following a religion will place religious ideologies beyond professional guidelines and whether there are differences between religious and non-religious officers regarding decision-making and use of discretion. This raises questions about how religious and non-religious officers will engage with citizens whose identities may be similar to, or different from the responding officer, and, whether the citizen’s identity challenges an officer’s religious ideologies; thereby shaping police-citizen interaction. Whether religious or non-religious police officers are more likely to police equitably is an area of research that needs systematic enquiry; especially given that officers who are religious could apply discretional policing when adhering to religious beliefs or practices during decision-making, and, conversely, officers who are non-religious, could apply discretional adherence to organizational rules, regulations, and police training. As such, this preliminary, exploratory study sought to address this gap in knowledge. Analysing data collected from a sample of officers (N = 1425) working in one Australian police organization, this study provides insight into how religious or non-religious beliefs shapes officers’ discretional decision-making, and citizen engagement.

Bio

Associate Professor Toby Miles-Johnson has a national and international profile as a policing scholar specialising in quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Having researched with different institutions and groups of people, Toby specialises in research with police organisations, national security agencies, international defence agencies, and diverse groups of people, and people categorised as vulnerable or hard to reach. He has conducted multiple research projects in collaboration with six police organisations around Australia, as well as with the Australian Federal Police, two police organisations in the United Kingdom, and three police departments in the United States. Toby is interested in how institutions such as police and other national/international security agencies, respond to and engage with all citizens when experiencing victimisation or when professional engagement occurs. His research examines police training, police education, police staffing, and police engagement with diverse communities. Cited and discussed in key policing documents around the globe, his research examines police recognition and response to domestic violence, hate crime, forced marriage, religious policing, mental health policing, as well as recruitment, deployment, attrition and promotion of officers, and policing diversity and inclusion. He is the current ‘Chair of the Policing Group’ within the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology.