NCJ Number
101694
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 46 Issue: 2 Dated: (April-June 1986) Pages: 105-118
Date Published
1986
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article examines the relationship between public satisfaction and police services within the context of research into factors affecting public attitudes toward police.
Abstract
Research into British and American attitudes toward police have examined the relationship between attitudes and three types of public interactions: noncriminal contact, as victim, and as an offender. Generally, results suggest that prior learning and socialization, the process of interaction, the type of contact, and prior experiences with police affect attitudes. Analyses of public demand for police services indicate that people use such services for a range of reasons not necessarily related to crime, and that communities, including hostile ones such as in Northern Ireland, desire and demand police services. In British policing (formal and informal), service aspects predominate in the workload. This may provide a surer indicator of public satisfaction with police than attitudinal surveys. Evidence suggests that the successful management of crime is largely unrelated to public satisfaction and demands on police time. Conflicts between police service-orientation and an emphasis on law and order may change this relationship. 32 references.