WashingtonOfficers say “bad guys” most when unsure.
The label can justify force before facts confirm guilt.
Officers must decide fast, so a binary label turns doubt into a category that justifies action, then evidence fits it.
The study does not say whether the pattern holds beyond these officers.
How each outlet framed it
- Phys.org
- reports academic study on police use of 'bad guys' label to simplify moral reasoning and rationalize authority
Sources: Phys.org