Police officers' attitudes toward citizen support: Focus on individual, organizational and neighborhood characteristic factors

Abstract

Purpose

The increased contact that police have with citizens that characterizes community policing makes mutual trust and respect between police and citizens crucial to success. Despite the importance of examining officers' perceptions of citizen trust and support, few studies have been conducted to examine officers' perspectives. The current research attempted to fill that void by examining the effects of individual, organizational and beat characteristic variables on officers' attitudes toward citizen support, using a sample of 434 Korean police officers.

Design/methodology/approach

The current research attempted to fill that void by examining the effects of individual, organizational and beat characteristic variables on officers' attitudes toward citizen support, using a sample of 434 Korean police officers. The results of OLS regression analyses indicate that individual and organizational factors such as seniority and the level of the officers' assigned police department were significantly related to officers' attitude toward citizen support.

Findings

The results of OLS regression analyses indicate that individual and organizational factors such as seniority and the level of the officers' assigned police department were significantly related to officers' attitude toward citizen support. As expected, beat characteristic variables (i.e. the perceived community income level and the perceived community crime problem) have significant effects on the officers' perceptions of citizen support.

Research limitations/implications

To better understand determinants of officers' perceptions of citizen support further research is necessary to examine the effects of personality traits, occupational socialization, and working environments, all features which were found to have significant effects on officers' attitudes and behaviors.

Originality/value

Overall, the current study augments our understanding of officers' perceptions of citizen support and factors affecting those perceptions.

Citation

Moon, B. and Zager, L.J. (2007), "Police officers' attitudes toward citizen support: Focus on individual, organizational and neighborhood characteristic factors", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 484-497. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510710778859