Search results

This study attempts to determine how political legitimacy and regime change affect the level of public confidence in the Mexican police. The current study also aims to examine to what extent socioeconomic and attitudinal factors are associated with levels of police confidence among Mexican citizens.

The data used in this study were obtained from two Mexican surveys conducted as part of the World Value Surveys (WVS) in 1996 and 2005. Owing to the nature of the dependent variable, a series of ordinal logistic regression analyses was employed to examine the effects of political legitimacy, regime change, attitudinal, and socioeconomic factors on public confidence in the Mexican police while controlling other relevant factors.

Consistent with prior research, results confirmed that public confidence in the police was positively associated with political legitimacy (i.e. support for regime institutions and system support), happiness, life satisfaction, marital status, and religious activity. Yet, age, education, and size of the town were negatively related to public confidence.

Since the current study used secondary data, the availability of information was limited. Only one nation was studied which limits the generalizability of the findings. Future research may attempt to study other Latin‐American nations, including Mexico, in order to address the issue of public confidence in policing on a greater scale. Further, as the police alone cannot take full credit in the public's perception of law enforcement, it is imperative that future studies also examine other government agencies (i.e. courts, prosecutors) that may lend more information on this subject.

While the police and some governing agencies may not be able to change most of the factors studied in this research, they can strive to cultivate better trust among the citizenry and seek to improve quality of life in neighborhoods which may lead to greater happiness and life satisfaction factors that may then increase the level of confidence in the police.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between Mexicans’ support for the criminalization of immigration and level of police contact, fear of deportation and the perceived personal impact of immigration enforcement.

This analysis uses data from the 2008 National Survey of Latinos, a representative random sample of 1,153 self-identified Latino/as residing in the USA. The authors sought to identify the prevalence of Latino support for local police actively identifying undocumented immigrants and to examine the relationship between acculturation, confidence in the police and/or fear that immigrants increase neighborhood crime and support for the criminalization of immigration. The authors use logistic regression analysis and post-estimation techniques to explore the relationship between support for the criminalization of immigration and acculturation, discrimination, perceptions of crime and confidence in the police.

The authors found that Latino policy attitudes are not monolithic but differ by nativity and citizenship status and vary according to their level of confidence in fair and proper police enforcement of the law. Within levels of confidence, the authors found that the perception that immigrants increase local crime rates was a significant predictor of policy attitudes. Contrary to the authors’ expectations, neither previous contact with the criminal justice system nor being stopped and asked about immigration status predicted support for criminalizing immigration. Nor did level of support vary according to proficiency in English and perceptions of discriminatory treatment.

This study has implications for understanding how citizenship statuses influence public opinion on issues that are presumed to be reflective of a unified political voice.

This study has implications for understanding the role of social stigma and political socialization and their relationship to Mexican citizens and non-citizens policy preferences.

No study to date has explored associations between Latinos’ policy attitudes on the criminalization of immigration and acculturation, fear of crime and confidence in the police.

This paper is a historical survey of the mounted police tradition. The earliest historical references to mounted police can be traced to King Charles’ Articles of War, published in 1629. The British model of mounted policing was introduced to its colonies during the heyday of the British Empire in the nineteenth century. During this era mounted forces were utilized in Africa, the Middle East, India, Canada, and the Pacific colonies, where the tradition flourished until the age of the automobile. In addition to the British model, a ranging tradition of policing developed in Texas with the Texas Rangers. It was most influential on its neighbours in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. An early example of specialized policing, mounted forces have seen a revival in recent years, albeit in an urban setting rather than a colonial or frontier environment.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between global and specific attitudes of unfair police treatment towards Mexican Americans and how attitudes towards the police vary with socio‐demographic characteristics, victim status, linguistic barriers, group consciousness and socially disorganized contexts.

Data from the 2006 National Latino Survey, which is a representative random sample of 1,815 self‐identified persons of Mexican‐origin born in the USA were used to investigate three research questions: What is the prevalence in which Mexican‐Americans claim to be treated unfairly by the police?; What is the prevalence in which Mexican‐Americans perceive unfair treatment toward their ethnic group?; and Do cultural factors and/or heightened group consciousness and identity contribute to Mexican‐Americans perceptions of either specific or more generalized unfair police treatment? A structural equation model was developed to explore the relationship between global and specific measures of unfair police treatment and variables measuring socio‐demographic and linguistic characteristics, as well as socially disorganized contexts, group consciousness and identity.

Mexican‐Americans residing in socially disorganized contexts are significantly more likely to have positive global assessments of the police. The relationship between both social disorganization and specific and global attitudes was statistically significant. Individuals who have a strong sense of linked fate, possess a shared sense of common purpose and interest, and identify strongly with their ethnic group are significantly more likely to perceive that the police treat their group unfairly.

The current investigation is limited by the nature of the data, which is based wholly on self‐report. In addition, while the frequency and nature of police contact plays a role in influencing negative perceptions of police encounters, it was not possible to assess those influences here. Finally, the current analysis is limited by the cross‐sectional nature of the data and no inferences regarding causality can be made.

This study has implications for the legitimacy of the criminal justice system and will help criminal justice actors understand the broader implications of police‐citizen interactions.

The paper shows how social interactions are affected by group membership.

No study to date explores the relationship between group‐based identity, group consciousness and perceptions of unfair treatment by the police. These studies are usually limited to the political science literature.

Police misconduct is a grave matter undermining public trust in law enforcement and police professionalism. While research has specified major forms and causal theories of police misconduct, especially regarding corruption and excessive force, scientific attention to police sexual misconduct (PSM) has been more limited and is addressed here. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.

The current study was commissioned to examine PSM incidents (n = 50) between 2000 and 2009 in a large, metropolitan, police department in the USA. Data were extracted from agency internal affairs case files, personnel records and disciplinary histories for involved officers.

Analyses identified common factors and trends across officers, complainants and sexual misconduct events that were dichotomized per case substantiation and observed on a severity continuum from unobtrusive to criminal conduct.

Though findings did not evidence a deviant subculture often implicated in the police literature, specific opportunities to reduce officer misconduct, including intensifying administrative sanctioning and other perceptual deterrence measures, were identified.

The purpose of this research was to assess public perceptions of the police in Mexico.

Surveys were administered to more than 300 law school students in Tampico, Tamaulipas.

Analyses of the data show that the majority of respondents view the municipal, state, and federal police forces negatively. The analyses also indicate that the federal police are viewed less negatively than the state police and the state police are viewed less negatively than the municipal police. Finally, the analyses show that there is a difference in diffuse and specific support for the police agencies, but there was not a consistent pattern of diffuse support being greater than specific support.

Because the sample was composed of law school students, the results cannot be generalized to the Mexican populace. And the unusual findings pertaining to diffuse and specific support for the police indicate a need for additional research on this phenomenon.

The findings suggest that the recent police reforms in Mexico have failed to instill public confidence in the police and that the Mexican government needs to increase police reform efforts. In addition, because of the large influx of immigration from Mexico into the USA, police agencies in the USA will need to increase efforts to work with Hispanic communities in order to gain the confidence of the Mexican immigrants.

To date, this is the most comprehensive empirical examination of perceptions of the police forces in Mexico.