Bystanders are a near-constant presence on police scenes, because officers perform a large part of their work in public spaces. For the most part, police research and trainings view them as passive observers, according to a new analysis published in Police Practice and Research, which finds that more recent research shows that “active bystander intervention is the rule rather than the exception.” While bystanders are sometimes impediments who scream and disrupt and get in officers’ way, they “play an important role, not only by watching or filming, but also be actively de-escalating or intervening,” the study notes.
The study, “Bystander actions during police work on the street, is based on interviews with officers and participants during 12 police shifts in the Netherlands, was conducted by a team of researchers led by Marly van Bruchem at Open University of the Netherlands in Heerlen. It cites another recent study that found that “third parties play an important role in unfolding of conflicts and emergencies, not only by watching or filming, but also by actively (de-)escalating or intervening.”
Certainly, in recent years, bystanders who use their phones to record police have been a focus of lawmakers. Last week, in Louisiana, a new law made it a crime – punishable by fines and jail time -- to approach a police officer within 25 feet; critics fear the measure could hinder bystanders’ ability to film officers, a tool that has increasingly been used to hold police accountable, as reported by The Guardian. The bill’s proponents argue the new law will create a buffer zone to help ensure the safety of officers and that bystanders would still be close enough to film police interactions.
The Guardian’s piece reminded readers that bystanders have an established right to film police, according to The Guardian’s recent piece, which cites a 2022 Arizona law making it illegal to knowingly film police officers form 8 feet of closer that was found unconstitutional. “In similar cases,” the Guardian found, “half of U.S. appeals courts across the nation have ruled on the side of allowing people to record police without restriction.”
Often bystanders who are not passive or accommodating are seen by officers as endangering what the authors describe as “the authority maintenance theory,” basically, the need to control the scene and the desire to have bystanders view their performance as positive and fair. “Yet both police officers and citizens are dependent on the other party to achieve their intended goals,” note the authors. Some officers interviewed mentioned bystander help with first aid and identification of suspects, for instance. Bystanders also intervened in helpful ways when friends or family members were drunk, emotional, or in a conflict, police said. And before police arrive, bystanders often have provided care and first aid for victims, grabbing towels or removing car-bicycle parts from roadways, even placing traffic cones in streets that need to be blocked, officers reported.
To help improve police training, future police research should use systematic observation of bystanders, to better focus “on what bystanders precisely do,” the authors concluded.