NCJ Number
239918
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 52 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2012 Pages: 744-764
Date Published
July 2012
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article analyses the causes of public confidence in policing.
Abstract
Empirical analyses of the causes of public confidence in policing have been based almost entirely on cross-sectional survey data, with a consequent focus on between-group differences in levels of confidence at a single point in time. The aim of this study is to introduce a time dimension to this area of investigation. Employing repeated cross-sectional survey data from the British Crime Survey, the study applied time-series regression methods to show how confidence in policing changes over time for the aggregate population. Counter to cross-sectional findings, time-series analyses reveal that confidence in the police is not related to aggregate worry about crime and perceptions of social cohesion, nor informal social control, but only to perceptions of crime and the property crime rate. (Published Abstract)