Rylan Simpson, Ph.D. Police Officer Perception Project (POPP)






Rylan Simpson, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
School of Criminology
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia
Canada V5A 1S6

rylan_simpson@sfu.ca
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Conference Presentations
1. Sargeant, E., & Simpson, R. “In the eye of the powerholder: Examining the relationship
between uniform and accoutrement combinations and police self-legitimacy.” Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, Melbourne, Victoria, December 2023.
2. Simpson, R. “Is 9-1-1 always for emergencies? An empirical exploration of police calls
for service data.” American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2023.
3. Simpson, R., & Nix, J. “Trends among police shootings in Canada by space and time.”
American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2023.
4. Sandrin, R., & Simpson, R. “Willingness to cooperate with police among a sample of
Canadians and Americans.” American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2023.
5. Simpson, R. “Riding along with data: Reconstructing the patrol environment using electronic
police records.” International Association of Chiefs of Police, San Diego, California, October 2023.
6. Simpson, R., Charman, M.*, Tumilowicz, V.*, & Johnston, R.* “Fueling change in the
aesthetics of policing: Public perceptions and police reactions to police vehicle designs.” American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 2023.
7. Simpson, R., & Grossman, L.* “One or two: What works better for blue? A comparison of
patrol officer output by single- versus double-crewed status.” American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 2023.
8. Simpson, R. “Dispatch, I’m Code 4”: Officers’ perceptions of risk at calls for service.” Western
Society of Criminology, Vancouver, British Columbia, February 2023.
9. Sandrin, R., Simpson, R., & Gaub, J. “Search, bite, or sniff? Examining public support for
police dogs and their utilities.” Western Society of Criminology, Vancouver, British Columbia, February 2023.
10. Twa, N.†, & Simpson, R. “Police in the news: A content analysis of news articles regarding
officer-involved shootings in Canada.” Western Society of Criminology, Vancouver, British Columbia, February 2023.
11. Simpson, R., & Nix, J. “Under fire: Officer-involved shootings in Canada, 2017-2019.”
American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2022.
12. Sandrin, R., Simpson, R., & Gaub, J. “Friend or foe? Examining public support for police
dogs in a use-of-force context.” American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2022.
13. Simpson, R. & Birkett, C.* “Tweeting officers: A study of police officers who use Twitter.”
Global Collaboration of Evidence-Based Policing, International, October 2022.
14. Simpson, R., & Sargeant, E. “Looking through the mirror: The effects of police uniforms
and accoutrements on officer perceptions.” American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, Washington, D.C., May 2022.
15. Simpson, R., & Hipp, J. R. “Empirically assessing change among police agencies in the
United States.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2022.
16. Covington, M., Dorn, S.,& Magny, O.,* & Simpson, R. “Pracademia in policing: Building and
maintaining partnerships between police agencies and the academy.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2022.
17. Simpson, R., & Sargeant, E. “The role of context in assessing perceptions of officer
appearance: An experimental test of Queensland residents.” Western Society of Criminology, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 2022.
18. Sandrin, R., Simpson, R., & Gaub, J. “Unpacking public perceptions of police dog units.”
Western Society of Criminology, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 2022.
19. Simpson, R., & Sargeant, E. “The locker room as a site of transformation: Uniforms and their
effects on police officers.” American Society of Criminology, Chicago, Illinois, November 2021. (Presentation cancelled due to COVID-19).
20. Simpson, R., & Orosco, C. “Classifying police calls for service: Implications for research and
operations.” American Society of Criminology, Chicago, Illinois, November 2021. (Presentation cancelled due to COVID-19).
21. Sandrin, R., & Simpson, R. “Predicting the behaviour of police: The role of officer trait
ascriptions.” American Society of Criminology, Chicago, Illinois, November 2021. (Presentation cancelled due to COVID-19).
22. Simpson, R., & Bell, N.* The use of computer-aided dispatch (CAD) data to study patrol
officer activities.” American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, Columbia, South Carolina, August 2021.
23. Simpson, R., & Sandrin, R. “The implications of personal protective equipment (PPE) for
police during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Orlando, Florida, April 2021 (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).
24. Simpson, R., & Sargeant, E. “The locker room as a site of transformation: Uniforms
and their effects on police officers.” American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C., November 2020 (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).
25. Simpson, R. “Constable Scarecrow: Findings from a police-directed field experiment
regarding motorist speed.” American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, Washington, D.C., June 2020. (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).
26. Simpson, R. “Inanimate but effective? Exploring the impact of a police cut-out on motorist
speed in British Columbia.” Canadian Policing Research Conference, Nicolet, Quebec, June 2020. (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).
27. Simpson, R., & Pappas, L. N. “The criminal justice funnel: Perceptions of police, courts,
and willingness to cooperate with officers.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, San Antonio, Texas, March 2020. (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19).
28. Simpson, R. “Constable Scarecrow: An evaluation of a police-directed field experiment
aimed at reducing traffic speed.” Western Society of Criminology, Phoenix, Arizona, February 2020.
29. Pappas, L. N., & Simpson, R.. “Looping through the system: An analysis of perceptions of
courts and police.” Western Society of Criminology, Phoenix, Arizona, February 2020.
30. Simpson, R. “Guardian versus warrior: An exploration of police recruitment videos in
California.” Association for Criminal Justice Research, Oakland, California, March 2019.
31. Simpson, R. “The Police Officer Perception Project (POPP): Police appearance, policy, and the
importance of academic-police collaboration.” American Society of Evidence-Based Policing Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 2019.
32. + Simpson, R. “Police vehicles as symbols of legitimacy." Society for Personality and Social
Psychology, Portland, Oregon, February 2019
33. Wetherell, K.†, & Simpson, R. “The face of the police in America: An examination of police
spokesperson characteristics.” Western Society of Criminology, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 2019.
34. Simpson, R., & Hipp, J. R. “A typological approach to understanding police agency
trajectories, 1993-2013.” American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2018
35. + Wetherell, K.†, & Simpson, R. “An investigation of the demographic trends of police
spokespersons within the United States.” UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium, Irvine, California, May 2018.
36. + Simpson, R. “Lock, load… and smile? Facial expressions and perceptions of the police.”
Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, Georgia, March 2018.
37. Simpson, R. “Policing the suburban city: Lights, sirens, and the challenges of contemporary
patrol work.” Western Society of Criminology, Long Beach, California, February 2018.
38. Simpson, R, & Hipp, J. R. “At the intersection of typology and trajectory: Studying change
among police agencies in America.” Western Society of Criminology, Long Beach, California, February 2018.
39. Simpson, R. “What can time tell us regarding perceptions of police? Incorporating latency
information into experimental evaluations of dichotomous outcomes.” American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2017.
40. + Simpson, R, & Biggs, J.* “High-visibility vests in public environments: A randomized
field trial of public-police engagement.” American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2017.
41. + Simpson, R, & Li, X.† “Police spokespersons in America: A nationwide examination.”
American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2017.
42. + Hipp, J. R., Kubrin, C. E., Bates, C. J., Branic, N., Contreras, C., Forthun, B. J., Kim, Y. A.,
Mioduszewski, M. D., Simpson, R., & Williams, S. A. “Studying the social ecology of crime in Southern California: An introduction to the ILSSC.” American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2017.
43. Simpson, R. “Under the microscope: Perceptions of police in a laboratory environment.”
European Society of Criminology, Cardiff, Wales, September 2017.
44. Simpson, R. “Two versus four: Do fewer wheels result in more? Patrol strategies and
perceptions of the police.” Association for Criminal Justice Research, Sacramento, California, March 2017.
45. Simpson, R., & Hipp, J. R. “Cops in California: Identifying, describing and interpreting
patterns in department typologies.” Western Society of Criminology, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 2017.
46. + Simpson, R. “Perceiving police: Uniforms and attire influence social processes.” Society
for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, Texas, January 2017.
47. Simpson, R. “Do uniforms matter? Experimental evidence from the Police Officer Perception
Project (POPP).” American Society of Criminology, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 2016.
48. + Simpson, R, & Hipp, J. R. “Spatially diverse policing: An examination of police typologies
across space and time.” American Society of Criminology, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 2016.
49. + Simpson, R. “The Police Officer Perception Project (POPP): An experimental evaluation
of factors that impact perceptions of the police.” UCI Social Ecology Poster Session, Irvine, California, March 2016.
50. Simpson, R, & Hipp, J. R. “What came first: The police or the incident? An examination of
police response to calls for service and crime.” Western Society of Criminology, Vancouver, British Columbia, February 2016.
51. Simpson, R, Gravel, J., & Wong, J. “Getting in people’s faces: On the symbiotic relationship
between the media and police gang units.” Western Society of Criminology, Vancouver, British Columbia, February 2016.
52. Simpson, R.. “The effect of patrol strategies on the public’s perceptions of the police.”
American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C., November 2015.
53. + Simpson, R., Gravel, J., & Wong, J. “High-profile incidents, specialized policing, and
media reporting of gang-related homicides.” American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C., November 2015.
+ Denotes poster presentation // * Denotes practitioner // † Denotes undergraduate student


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