Previous research has shown that police presence, which involves visibility of law enforcement personnel, is often related to perceptions of individual safety and individual behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of college students and campus law enforcement regarding visibility of and citizen/police interaction on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. The first phase of this project was designed to measure student awareness and visibility of “ghosted” police vehicles, which are black with matte black markings on the doors and have few easily visible indicators of law enforcement vehicles, versus other police types of police vehicles on campus. The second phase of the study involved measuring the police perception of safety on campus while using the ghosted vehicles. Survey and interview data were analyzed to explore whether the use of ghosted law enforcement vehicles impact perceptions of safety and crime detection. Potential policy implications concerning the use of ghosted vehicles are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Previous research has shown that police presence, which involves visibility of law enforcement personnel, is often related to perceptions of individual safety and individual behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of college students and campus law enforcement regarding visibility of and citizen/police interaction on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. The first phase of this project was designed to measure student awareness and visibility of “ghosted” police vehicles, which are black with matte black markings on the doors and have few easily visible indicators of law enforcement vehicles, versus other police types of police vehicles on campus. The second phase of the study involved measuring the police perception of safety on campus while using the ghosted vehicles. Survey and interview data were analyzed to explore whether the use of ghosted law enforcement vehicles impact perceptions of safety and crime detection. Potential policy implications concerning the use of ghosted vehicles are discussed. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kibler, MacKenzie"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Justice Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z","subjects":["Ghost car","Ghosted police vehicle","Officer","Safety","Student","Criminology","Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2020 MacKenzie Kibler"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/736","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kibler, MacKenzie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Justice Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Ghost car","Ghosted police vehicle","Officer","Safety","Student","Criminology","Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2020 MacKenzie Kibler"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/736"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Previous research has shown that police presence, which involves visibility of law enforcement personnel, is often related to perceptions of individual safety and individual behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of college students and campus law enforcement regarding visibility of and citizen/police interaction on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. The first phase of this project was designed to measure student awareness and visibility of “ghosted” police vehicles, which are black with matte black markings on the doors and have few easily visible indicators of law enforcement vehicles, versus other police types of police vehicles on campus. The second phase of the study involved measuring the police perception of safety on campus while using the ghosted vehicles. Survey and interview data were analyzed to explore whether the use of ghosted law enforcement vehicles impact perceptions of safety and crime detection. Potential policy implications concerning the use of ghosted vehicles are discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Hiding In Plain Sight: Ghosted Police Vehicles And The Perception Of Police Presence On College Campuses"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Kibler, MacKenzie"],"dc:description.abstract":["Previous research has shown that police presence, which involves visibility of law enforcement personnel, is often related to perceptions of individual safety and individual behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of college students and campus law enforcement regarding visibility of and citizen/police interaction on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. The first phase of this project was designed to measure student awareness and visibility of “ghosted” police vehicles, which are black with matte black markings on the doors and have few easily visible indicators of law enforcement vehicles, versus other police types of police vehicles on campus. The second phase of the study involved measuring the police perception of safety on campus while using the ghosted vehicles. Survey and interview data were analyzed to explore whether the use of ghosted law enforcement vehicles impact perceptions of safety and crime detection. Potential policy implications concerning the use of ghosted vehicles are discussed.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/736"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2020 MacKenzie Kibler"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Ghost car","Ghosted police vehicle","Officer","Safety","Student","Criminology","Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance"],"dc:title":["Hiding In Plain Sight: Ghosted Police Vehicles And The Perception Of Police Presence On College Campuses"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Justice Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z"}