Variation in Institutional Oversight of Police Misconduct (VINO), 2021-2026

Police abuse occurs throughout the democratic world, presenting a challenge for states committed to exercising coercive force with discretion. One of the ways states address this problem is with police misconduct oversight institutions, which facilitate civilian reporting and state investigation of misconduct. VINO mapped the different ways these oversight institutions are designed, and explored how these differences impact on citizens’ attitudes and behaviors. The project studied these relationships within OECD democracies using a multi-method approach, including cross-national, statistical analysis; survey experiments; and case studies.

This project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101000385).

VINO Team

  • Kristine Eck

    Principal Investigator

    Kristine Eck is a Professor at the Department of Politics an Society, Aalborg University. Her research concerns state coercion, political violence, and policing.

  • Charlotte Thomas-Hébert

    Post-doctoral Researcher

    Charlotte Thomas-Hébert received her PhD in Political Science at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and holds an MA in American Studies from Université Paris 3 Sorbonne-Nouvelle. She has been a Visiting Scholar at the Graduate Center/CUNY, Brown University, and Columbia Law School. Her postdoctoral project examines how victims of police violence in Paris and New York seek accountability from law enforcement through civil litigation.

  • Melanie Hartvigsen

    Post-doctoral Researcher

    Melanie Sofia Hartvigsen received her PhD in Political Science in April 2025 from the University of Southern Denmark and a MA in International Security and Law from the University of Southern Denmark. Melanie has been working with the Danish Intelligence Regiment and has been a Visiting Scholar at Lund University. Her postdoctoral project explores contestation in Denmark’s police oversight system.

  • Mihai Croicu

    Post-doctoral Researcher

    Dr. Mihai Croicu is a Post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Economic Analysis (CSIC) and the Barcelona School of Economics. He holds a PhD degree from Uppsala University, and was formerly employed as a Post-doctoral researcher with VINO. His research interests concern machine learning/natural language processing applications for conflict prediction and data generation of political violence events.

  • Jesper Asring Hansen

    Affiliated Researcher

    Jesper Asring Hansen is an Associate Professor at Aalborg University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Southern Denmark in 2019. His research has concentrated on accountability in public organizations, particularly the police. He employs experimental methods and natural experiments to investigate the factors behind police stops, discrimination, and violence.

  • Sophia Hatz

    Affiliated Researcher

    Sophia Hatz is an Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, and was the Deputy Director of VINO, 2022-2023. Her current research interests include nuclear disarmament, international governance, coercion and deception, and risks from advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI). She has experience with data collection, causal inference and quantitative analysis of large-n datasets. She leads the Working Group on International AI Governance, within the Alva Myrdal Center for Nuclear Disarmament.

  • Martin Macias Medellin

    Affiliated Researcher

    Martin Macias Medellin is a PhD student in Political Science and Scientific Computing at the University of Michigan. He is interested in the dynamics of mass political dissent, political and criminal violence, and state-building processes.

  • Courtenay Monroe

    Affiliated Researcher

    Courtenay Monroe (formerly Conrad) is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Merced. Her research focuses on political violence and human rights, particularly on how repressive agents make decisions in the face of domestic and international institutional constraints.

  • Christoph Steinert

    Affiliated Researcher

    Christoph Steinert is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Zürich. He holds a PhD degree from the University of Mannheim and an MPhil degree from the University of Oxford. His research concerns the empirical study of human rights violations, international organizations, and of state repression in authoritarian regimes.

  • Atsushi Tago

    Affiliated Researcher

    Atsushi Tago is a Professor of International Relations at the School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University and since 2017, a Global Fellow at the Peace Research Institute, Oslo. He specializes in the scientific study of international politics.

  • Theodora Benesch

    Research Assistant

    Theodora Benesch was a Research Assistant has a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University and a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Goethe University.

  • Jack Breslin

    Research Assistant

    Jack Breslin has an MSSc in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University and an MA in Politics and International Relations from Aberdeen University.

  • Louis-Alassane Cassaignard-Viaud

    Research Assistant

    Louis-Alassane Cassaignard-Viaud holds an Mssc in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University and BA in European Studies from Maastricht University.

  • Noah Godin

    Research Assistant

    Noah Godin was a Master's student in the Holocaust and Genocide Programme at Uppsala University, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Human Rights from Malmö University.

  • Tereza Heiligová

    Research Assistant

    Tereza Heiligová was a Master's student in the Holocaust and Genocide Programme at Uppsala University, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Theory & Public Policy from the University of Essex.

  • Matylda Jonas-Kowalik

    Research Assistant

    Matylda Jonas-Kowalik was a graduate student pursuing a Master’s in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Uppsala University. She holds a Master’s degree in International Migration and Ethnic Relations from Malmö University.

  • Jinsu Kim

    Research Assistant

    Jinsu Kim holds a MA in Political Science from the Stockholm University in Sweden and BA in the same field from the Konkuk University in South Korea.

  • Sabine Lind

    Research Assistant

    Sabine Lind is an alumna of Uppsala University’s Peace and Conflict Bachelor’s program.

  • Louise Mackeprang

    Student Assistant

    Louise Mackeprang has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the Copenhagen University and is now a Master’s student in Social Work at Aalborg University.

  • Liza Mremi

    Research Assistant

    Liza Mremi has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Corvinus University in Budapest and a Master’s degree in Ethnic and Migration Studies from Linköping University.

  • Selma Mustafić

    Research Assistant

    Selma Mustafić was Master's student of Peace and Conflict Studies at Uppsala University and holds a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of Ljubljana.

  • Johanne Luth Møller-Petersen

    Research Assistant

    Johanne Luth Møller-Petersen holds both a Master's degree and Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Aarhus University.

  • Natsuki Nakahara

    Research Assistant

    Natsuki Nakahara was a Bachelor’s student at Waseda University majoring in Political Science and Economics, with a focus on International Politics.

  • Rodrigo Pereira

    Research Assistant

    Rodrigo Pereira holds a MA in Contemporary History and Politics from the University of London, as well as a BA in International Relations from the University of Warsaw.

  • Niv Rabino

    Intern

    Niv Rabino was a Rotary Peace Fellow with a Master’s in Peace and Conflict from Uppsala University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Development from Columbia University, focusing on Public Health.

  • Monserratt Leyva Sánchez

    Research Assistant

    Monserratt Leyva Sánchez holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City.

  • Daniela Sanchez

    Research Assistant

    Daniela Sanchez has a Master's in Homeland Security from the Colombian War College, a Master's in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University, and a Bachelor's in International Relations from Rosario University in Colombia.

  • Robertas Skipitis

    Research Assistant

    Robertas Skipitis was a Master's student in the Holocaust and Genocide Programme at the Hugo Valentin Centre at Uppsala University, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of Essex.

  • Dimitrios Tziogkas

    Research Assistant

    Dimitrios Tziogkas has a Master’s degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Uppsala University, as well as a Master’s degree in International Studies and a Law degree from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

  • Eero Valkonen

    Research Assistant

    Eero Valkonen was a Master's student in History of Ideas at Uppsala University, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

  • Daan van de Rijzen

    Research Assistant

    Daan van de Rijzen holds a MSSc in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University and a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences from University College Maastricht.

  • Phaidon Vassiliou

    Research Assistant

    Phaidon Vassiliou wholds a graduate degree in Psychology from the University of Buenos Aires and an MA in Cultural Anthropology from Uppsala University.

  • Andrine Bro Østenå

    Andrine Bro Østenå was a Master's student of Peace and Conflict Studies at Uppsala University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Oslo New University College.

Publications

Eck, Kristine and Christoph Valentin Steinert. 2026. “Does the Type of Police Oversight Influence Public Opinion about Accountability?” British Journal of Criminology, forthcoming.

Abstract: Public outcry over police violence has brought the topic of police accountability to the forefront of popular debate. One facet in these discussions concerns police oversight bodies (POBs), which are an institutional mechanism for police accountability. We examine whether the design of POBs impact on citizen perceptions that justice will be rendered for police abuse, focusing on two attributes: whether they are civilian-staffed or police-staffed, and whether they have the power to sanction officers or not. We investigate this topic with a novel, multi-stage survey experiment fielded in Germany. The sequential vignettes describe an event of police violence in two settings: at a protest and in a street encounter. Our findings show that people believe officers are more likely to be punished for abuse and are more approving of punishment when POBs are civilian-staffed, but respondents only believe that sanctioning powers will be associated with punishment in protest settings. The results also show that ideology moderates public opinion in an unexpected manner: institutional features of police oversight only changed evaluations for respondents with centrist and moderate right-leaning positions, which suggests that institutional design has greatest impact for individuals not already ideologically predisposed toward a particular outcome.

Eck, Kristine and Christoph Valentin Steinert. 2026. “Extremist Ideology and Information Resistance: Public Opinions on Police Misconduct.” Science Advances 12(13): eaeb9501.

Abstract: High-profile cases of police violence have given rise to contentious debates, yet scholars know little about why individuals interpret violent police encounters differently. We fielded a survey experiment in Germany designed to probe whether the victim's identity matters to public opinion (N=15,941). Our design approximates the way news events unfold sequentially over time, allowing us to measure whether eventual discriminatory beliefs persist in the face of mounting evidence. We show that respondents are less likely to consider the actions of the police to constitute misconduct when the victim has an immigrant name compared to a traditionally German name. Importantly, discriminatory beliefs remain even when respondents are informed about evidence confirming that misconduct occurred. Our analysis shows that these results are driven by right-wing respondents, with both moderates and extremists exhibiting discriminatory beliefs and a resistance to updating.

Lanigan, Amanda and Ilker Kalin. 2026. “Constrained but not Transformed: Civilian-led Certification Reform and Officer Misconduct.” Political Research Quarterly 79(1): 110-125.

Abstract: In the wake of nationwide protests against police violence, Massachusetts established its first centralized, civilian-led recertification regime—the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission—to institutionalize external oversight. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines a natural experiment with semi-structured interviews, this article investigates whether participation in this procedurally binding, externally adjudicated review process alters patterns of police behavior and perceptions of oversight. It exploits the phased, alphabetically assigned rollout of recertification to identify causal effects of exposure to POST scrutiny, applying a difference-in-differences design to a panel of officers with sustained misconduct allegations. The findings suggest that recertification can produce modest, time-bounded shifts in behavior, particularly among officers already inclined to comply. Persistent offenders, however, often remain unaffected.

Monroe, Courtenay, Sophia Hatz, and Kristine Eck. 2025. “Judicial Decisions on Electronic Control Devices and Police Escalation of Force.” Journal of Politics 87(4): 1628-1633. (Accepted version available here)

Abstract: Jurisprudence regarding whether police use of Electronic Control Devices (ECDs) constitutes excessive use of force varies substantially across U.S. states and over time. In this letter, we investigate the extent to which year-to-year switches in U.S. Courts of Appeals decisions lead to escalations in police use of force. Using a generalized difference-in-difference (DID) design, we show that switches in judicial restrictiveness regarding the legal use of ECDs are associated with an increase in the use of lethal force as measured by the number of civilians shot and killed by police officers.

Eck, Kristine. 2025. “Bad Lieutenants: Off-Duty Police Misconduct and Accountability.” International Journal of Police Science and Management 27(4): 369-380. (Accepted version available here)

Abstract: This article examines one type of variation in how states limit and oversee police powers: the distinction between on-duty versus off-duty misconduct. While there is a growing literature on police accountability mechanisms, there is no research which addresses whether off-duty abuses of power are covered by these mechanisms. This article addresses this gap by mapping the scope of oversight bodies in 14 economically developed democracies. The data show that approximately 35% of the countries restrict oversight to on-duty activities while 65% of the countries apply a universal approach to oversight by also receiving complaints about off-duty behavior. An in-depth look at Sweden shows that off-duty misconduct complaints are more likely to lead to charges being filed against the officer, suggesting that Swedish prosecutors find greater evidentiary support for off-duty complaints than for on-duty complaints.