There has been a long-standing debate in the academic literature concerning whether citizen attit... more There has been a long-standing debate in the academic literature concerning whether citizen attitudes or social-cultural characteristics are more or less apt for explaining citizen confidence and trust in government. Recent research on citizen perceptions of the police has cast new light on this debate with increasing empirical support for the social-psychological concept of procedural justice. Procedural justice has been found to bolster citizen perceptions of police legitimacy as well as overall levels of citizen satisfaction. Procedural fairness variables, such as the perception of racial profiling, tend to have a more powerful effect upon police legitimacy and citizen satisfaction than traditional social-cultural variables such as race and ethnicity. There has been little in the academic literature in the way of testing social-cultural variables (such as social capital) against specific attitudinal variables (such as attributions of police legitimacy and the perception of racial profiling) to determine which has the greatest explanatory power in assessing citizen confidence in government as a whole. Using statewide mail survey data and official state voting records, this research assesses the degree to which the attitudes of active state voters regarding racial profiling and police legitimacy affect the perceived legitimacy of municipal, county, and state government. Multivariate analysis found evidence of a ripple effect in which the perception of racial profiling and police legitimacy tended to influence citizen confidence in government.
This article examines the relevance of community oriented policing (COP) in an age of increased p... more This article examines the relevance of community oriented policing (COP) in an age of increased prioritization of homeland security planning among U.S. police departments. The current study utilizes 2003 multi-wave survey data drawn from a random sample of 281 municipal police departments serving populations of 25,000+ in 47 states. Ordered logistic regression revealed police departments that give higher prioritization to homeland security planning (e.g. hazard mitigation) are associated with less officers devoted solely to community policing and smaller or static departmental budgets. Homeland security planning was also positively associated with community policing programs and activities. Research and policy implications are discussed.
There has been a long-standing debate in the academic literature concerning whether citizen attit... more There has been a long-standing debate in the academic literature concerning whether citizen attitudes or social-cultural characteristics are more or less apt for explaining citizen confidence and trust in government. Recent research on citizen perceptions of the police has cast new light on this debate with increasing empirical support for the social-psychological concept of procedural justice. Procedural justice has been found to bolster citizen perceptions of police legitimacy as well as overall levels of citizen satisfaction. Procedural fairness variables, such as the perception of racial profiling, tend to have a more powerful effect upon police legitimacy and citizen satisfaction than traditional social-cultural variables such as race and ethnicity. There has been little in the academic literature in the way of testing social-cultural variables (such as social capital) against specific attitudinal variables (such as attributions of police legitimacy and the perception of racial profiling) to determine which has the greatest explanatory power in assessing citizen confidence in government as a whole. Using statewide mail survey data and official state voting records, this research assesses the degree to which the attitudes of active state voters regarding racial profiling and police legitimacy affect the perceived legitimacy of municipal, county, and state government. Multivariate analysis found evidence of a ripple effect in which the perception of racial profiling and police legitimacy tended to influence citizen confidence in government.
This article examines the relevance of community oriented policing (COP) in an age of increased p... more This article examines the relevance of community oriented policing (COP) in an age of increased prioritization of homeland security planning among U.S. police departments. The current study utilizes 2003 multi-wave survey data drawn from a random sample of 281 municipal police departments serving populations of 25,000+ in 47 states. Ordered logistic regression revealed police departments that give higher prioritization to homeland security planning (e.g. hazard mitigation) are associated with less officers devoted solely to community policing and smaller or static departmental budgets. Homeland security planning was also positively associated with community policing programs and activities. Research and policy implications are discussed.
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