NCJ Number
76184
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 6 Dated: (1980) Pages: 387-393
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The relationship between black citizen satisfaction with the police, minority recruitment efforts by police departments, and the per capita ratio of minority police officers to minority citizens was investigated.
Abstract
Data on citizen satisfaction with the police were excerpted from a 1968 study of citizen attitudes, which included 2,984 black respondents. Information is not provided on methods for collecting data on the two variables. In general, black satisfaction with police protection was found to be low. There was a moderately strong positive relationship between positive perceptions and the per capita ratio of minority police to minority citizens. Relative minority recruitment efforts had little impact on citizen perceptions of police protection. The lack of a strong relationship between the presence of blacks on the police force and positive attitudes toward the police among blacks, suggests that perceptions of black officers as barriers to the further erosion of blacks' confidence in the police are unsubstantiated. The data may have failed to reveal a significant relationship in this area because organizational barriers undermine black police officers' effectiveness in responding to the needs of black citizens or because the data assessed only overall evaluations of the police. It may also be that black police officers fail to translate their understanding of black culture into action. Tabular data and 22 references are included.