Public Image Of Police

Print
The Public Image of the Police
Final Report to
The International Association of Chiefs of Police
By
The Administration of Justice Program
George Mason University
Authors (Alphabetical Order):
Catherine Gallagher
Edward R. Maguire
Stephen D. Mastrofski
Michael D. Reisig
October 2, 2001
Contact Person:
Stephen D. Mastrofski
Administration of Justice Program
George Mason University
10900 University Boulevard, MS 4F4
Manassas, VA 20110-2203
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Methodology
CHAPTER 2. THE GENERAL IMAGE OF POLICE
I. Introduction
II. General versus Specific Measures
III. How to Measure General Police Image
Public confidence in and support for the police depends more on citizens’ perceptions of police officers’ motives than whether the outcome was personally favorable to the citizen.
The public’s perceptions of how police treat them appear to affect their willingness to obey the law and obey the police.
Negative publicity about the police in one city that receives high visibility around the nation may have a nation-wide impact on the public’s view of the police, but the effect appears to be modest and not enduring.
When the public perceives major threats to the nation’s security, the overwhelming majority appear willing to give additional powers to the police that invade privacy and restrict liberty, but substantial portions of the public are also concerned about the possibility of police abuses of these powers.
Community policing may have some modest, long-term positive influence on citizens’ satisfaction with police, but it is unlikely to produce a “quick fix.”
The following represents a distillation of the major findings of this
There is reason for both alarm and celebration. Many indicators show that American police are among the most trusted and admired institutions of contemporary society, while there are also many indicators that the American public – especially the young and disadvantaged – are wary of the police and see plenty of room for improvement. Although police appear to enjoy legitimacy with the majority of people in even the groups who are most disaffected, police leaders should not be complacent. Substantial portions of the disadvantaged are not so positive, and it is precisely these people whose cooperation and good will the police need in general and in the every-day work of the street officer. Even relatively low levels of public dissatisfaction with police are problematic if they are concentrated among groups who have a self-identity as “victims” of