Police Attitudes Toward Problems of Society and Criminal Policy (From Police and the Community: Contributions Concerning the Relationship Between Police and the Community and Concerning Community Policing, P 198-214, 1990, Thomas Feltes and Erich Rebscher, eds.)

• NCJ Number: 129786
• Author(s): T Feltes
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: Felix-Verlag
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: German
• Country: West Germany (Former)

Annotation

A 1981 study explored how the attitudes of 431 police officers in a large German city compared to those of other West Germans.

Abstract

Findings showed that although the public expressed predominantly positive feelings toward the police, the police felt underestimated. This discrepancy may be due to the police's idealized self-image as the public's friend and helper as opposed to the cold, bureaucratic reality of police work. As a result of this discrepancy, experienced officers, unlike other experienced government employees, report decreased rather than increased job satisfaction. Most police officers also expressed criticism of their centralized leadership, the increased use of technology, and the growing anonymity of the profession. The public and the police generally agreed on the seriousness of specific offenses and saw combatting inflation and controlling crime as the government's most pressing tasks. Results indicated no major gaps between police self-image and public perceptions of the police. However, increasing police dissatisfaction and lack of self-confidence suggest the desirability of more dialogue between the public and the police. Tables