The Factors Influencing Public’s Perception and Confidence In the Police
Introduction
Policing is an industry that has changed profusely ever since the days of Sir Robert Peel; the father of modern day British policing. One aspect of policing that is ever changing is the public’s perception. Societies’ views and norms change all the time, but what else is it that influences a change in the public’s perception? What influences a change in the confidence in those who’s job it is to protect us, our property and our lives?
Literature Review
The first article critically reviewed is titled “The Dimensions of Public Perceptions of Police Legitimacy”, And was written by Dr. Justice Tankebe from the Institute of Criminology, at the University of Cambridge, U.K. The journal article looks at and defines legitimacy in many different aspects, and relates it to the public’s perception of the police. The dictionary definition of ‘legitimacy’ is “conformity to the law or to rules”. This particular article was chosen because it explores a wider view of perceptions, even from the police authorities themselves – “the belief that legal authorities are entitled to be obeyed and that the individual ought to defer to their judgments.” The article contains many strengths, such as discussing the public’s views, as to why the public may feel scared or intimidated by the police. “Suppose that people feel an obligation to obey the police because of fear, a sense of powerlessness, or pragmatic acquiescence, but a police agency mistakes those feelings for widespread legitimacy.”
The methodology which was used in this study is mostly quantitive research, as the data for the study came from “large-scale, face-to-face survey of London residents conducted quarterly by a private research firm on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), which is the primary police force for Greater London.” In my opinion, qualitative research was clearly the best method of research to have used in this study, to really get close with the public, and receive their honest views on their perspectives of policing in London.
However, a way in which this study can be approached differently would be to use more primary data, as the researchers would fully understand the variables the data represents. A limitation to only using quantitive research is that secondary researches could interpret the data In a way in which the primary researchers did not intend. There are a number of ethical concerns, such as issues surrounding privacy due to speaking to people door to door. “The first entailed a random selection of 267 addresses of households—based on Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File...The final stage entailed the selection of an adult (15 years or older) in cases where a house- hold contained more than one such person.” Not many 15 year olds have many means of identification, so how else could the researchers prove the age of the participant if there were no adults present? Ways in which this study could be adapted in the future is by ways of choosing older (18+), and more willing participants. Another could be to conduct more questionnaires. By using questionnaires, the participants won’t feel pressured and can answer the questions in their own time, therefore collecting more reliable data.
The second article I decided to critically review is “Police and Public Perceptions of Stalking – The role of prior victim-offender relationship” by Michelle Weller, Portsmouth University, UK. This journal article looks at the perception of the police, and statistics from mainly victims of stalking. Right at the beginning, in the introduction, the author states that stalking is not actually a crime, however it something that affects many – even celebrities and public figures. This article was chosen as it proved interesting to the reader, and shows a different perspective of the police to those who have not been affected by crime. The strengths of this article include, not only showing a different perspective of the public’s perception of the Police to other articles, but also addressing how police help victims considering stalking is not a crime unless it becomes harassment. “Here, frontline officers, detectives, and officers specialising in domestic violence are likely to encounter stalking victims.”
The methodology of the article is very much primary sourced quantitive research, conducted on 132 police officers, 54 were female police officers, from UK police forces. They completed different scenarios and questionnaires. “Three stalking scenarios were adapted from Sheridan et al. (2003). Each scenario presented a typical case of stalking in which a female victim is being stalked by a male offender.” Due to the information gathered being primary, qualitative data, the epistemology is therefore quite broad and useful. In my opinion, the study could have been approached differently by including more actual stalking victims in the research, rather than police officers. Rather than conducting exercises and scenarios, interviews could have been conducted with past victims, expressing what they really think of how they really felt, how they feel about stalking not yet being considered a crime when it affects so many people, and how effective the police were in dealing with the situation. “A final section of the questionnaire requested further information concerning the crime of stalking, particularly beliefs concerning the current prevalence of stalking as a crime and adequacy of current legislation.” Considering the research collected was primary, it’s clear that there weren’t many ethical concerns in the study. The only noticeable concerns could include confidentiality of the officers – as it is unclear what information they had to fill out in the questionnaires. Also, as the officers were chosen from differing regional forces across the UK, surely this decreases confidentiality of the study.
The final journal article chosen is another of Dr. Justice Tankebe from The University of Cambridge – this time focusing on “Public Confidence in the Police: Testing the Effects of Public Experiences of Police Corruption in Ghana”. This article was chosen because again, it’s something different yet it relates to how the public perceive the police. The study looks at police corruption, in the UK and Ghana, and how corruption can change the public’s perspective of those who’s job it is to protect us. “Nearly every study of police corruption hypothesises that public experience of police corruption undermines the moral standing of the police.” The strengths of the article include the fact that the author immediately addresses the affects police corruption can have on the public, looking back at past research. “Generally, the evidence from previous research suggests that positive experiences with the police result in increased confidence in them, but that negative encounters undermine confidence.”
The article continues to list problems of police corruption and the affects it can have on the police’s reputation. “As previously indicated, procedural justice, trustworthiness and effectiveness are important dimensions of this confidence.” However, I feel one limitation is that the author talks too much of the police’s trustworthiness, procedural justice and effectiveness, and somewhat repeats itself quite a lot throughout the article. Another limitation of the article is that the data collected is from back in 2006, which means the data is nearly 13 years old – which could question as to whether the data is still reliable today. “The data were collected between June and August 2006.”
The methodology used in the article was quantitive, and included 450 houses selected at random to take part in a questionnaire. “Within each household, a person was randomly selected from a list of individuals aged 18 years and above.” I feel, although posting the questionnaires gives the recipient the option of filling it out with less pressure, the study could have been approached differently by actually attending so many homes, and interviewing people, asking people directly their opinion. This can sometimes prove more effective to ensure you get the answers you need for the data. Posting questionnaires can raise ethical concerns, such as privacy and confidentiality, as it is unknown what personal information the questionnaires may ask for. Another ethical concern that can be raised is that age of the recipient. If the questionnaires are posted then how would the authorities know for sure that it is somebody over the age of 18 completing the questions? “Of the 450 questionnaires given to the selected research participants, 374 were returned. This represents a response rate of 83.1 per cent, which yields a sample size adequate to detect effects of the three dimensions of experience of police corruption on any of the three public confidence dimensions.” If I were to adapt this study, I would feature more face to face interviews rather than questionnaires, asking what the public of Ghana really think. I’d also branch out and maybe involve other countries in my research in which police corruption plays a big part.
Ethical Issues
Having considered ethical issues, whilst visiting each address, no personal information what could affect the homeowner would be included on completion of the questionnaire. The questionnaire would be completely voluntary, and completely anonymous throughout. The only information that would be taken down is the city/area the questionnaire was conducted in. We would require any form of ID to confirm that the participant is 18 or over, however no names or any personal information would be noted.
Conclusion
Its clear that, from the three critically reviewed journal articles included and research conducted, that everyone will forever have differing perceptions of the police. There are far too many different aspects as to what could change a persons’ perspective, whether it would be from their own personal experience, or someone close to them. Power-mad police and corrupt coppers are just two of many factors that creates hatred towards the authorities. Bad upbringings, slow police response, negative media stories, but this could be prevented. Although many look up to the police, and see them as heroes in uniform, the person sitting beside you may view police in a negative light for whatever reason.
