NCJ Number
184442
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Dated: July-August 2000 Pages: 325-336
Date Published
July 2000
Length
12 pages
Annotation
A telephone survey of 251 residents of Odessa and Midland, Tex., who had had contact with the police sought to determine the impact of police contacts and language spoken on citizens’ attitudes toward police performance.
Abstract
The survey took place in 1997 and used random-digit dialing to reach participants. The research focused on the impacts of the nature of police contact and the type of police experience and on whether the person spoke English or Spanish. Citizens who initiated police contact regarded police performance more favorably than those whose contacts were initiated by the police. In addition, police contact was likely to result from a service aspect of policing more than a crime control function; positive police experi3ence not only yielded positive attitudes toward the police, but also neutralized or ameliorated the negative attitudes of citizens. Moreover, Spanish-speaking Hispanic persons felt more satisfied with police performance than did white persons and English-speaking Hispanic persons, although the differences were not significant. Furthermore, black persons had less favorable attitudes toward the police than did whites or the two Hispanic groups. Findings indicated that police should implement appropriate policies to crate positive police-citizen contacts and to enhance police-minority relationships. Tables and 49 references (Author abstract modified)