COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE LOCAL POLICE

• NCJ Number: 53673
• Journal: Public Opinion Quarterly Volume: 42 Issue: 3 Dated: (FALL 1978) Pages: 370-379
• Author(s): C W PEEK; J P ALSTON; G D LOWE
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: Columbia University
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE EXTENT OF GENERAL PUBLIC POSITIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD THE LOCAL POLICE IN RELATION TO ATTITUDES CONCERNING 15 OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WAS INVESTIGATED IN A 1973 GALLUP POLL, ALONG WITH THE EFFECT OF AGE AND RACE.

Abstract

DATA FOR THE INVESTIGATION WERE OBTAINED FROM A POLL OF THE U.S. ADULT CIVILIAN POPULATION, IN WHICH A SAMPLE OF 1,554 RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED TO RATE HOW MUCH THEY LIKED WIDELY KNOWN ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS ON A SCALE FROM PLUS FIVE TO MINUS FIVE. TO SIMPLIFY THE ANALYSIS OF RESPONSES, SCORES OF 1 TO 10 WERE ASSIGNED TO SCALE ITEMS, WITH 10 REPRESENTING THE MOST POSITIVE RATING. COMPARED TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, LOCAL POLICE WERE WELL LIKED BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC. THE MEAN SENTIMENT TOWARD THEM WAS THE THIRD HIGHEST, AND ALL 12 ORGANIZATIONS BELOW THEM WERE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN THE AFFECTIVE DOMAIN. AMONG YOUNG WHITES, THE MEAN SENTIMENT TOWARD LOCAL POLICE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN IN OTHER WHITE AGE CATEGORIES. AMONG BLACKS, TWO PATTERNS EMERGED: (1) THOSE IN THE YOUNGEST AND THE OLDEST AGE GROUPS RATED LOCAL POLICE RELATIVELY LOW IN RELATION TO THEIR EVALUATION OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, AND (2) MIDDLE-AGED BLACKS RATED LOCAL POLICE HIGHLY. WHILE RACE AND AGE COMBINED ACCOUNTED FOR ONLY 2.94 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL VARIANCE IN EVALUATIONS OF LOCAL POLICE, THEY WERE RELATIVELY IMPORTANT IN OTHER VARIABLES OF THE INVESTIGATION (MEAN SENTIMENT, RANK, AND PERCENT NONRESPONSE). THE 15 ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDED IN THE EVALUATION ARE THE UNITED STATES, RUSSIA, THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, THE U.S. CONGRESS, THE U.S. SUPREME COURT, THE PRESS, THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS, THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS (AFL-CIO), THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE, THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, THE CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY (CORE), THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY, AND THE KU KLUX KLAN. SUPPORTING DATA ARE PROVIDED, AND REFERENCES ARE CITED.