NCJ Number
115924
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1988) Pages: 105-121
Date Published
1988
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study explored factors in police-citizen interactions that influence citizen attitudes toward police (ATP) among 832 college students who had or had not received a traffic citation.
Abstract
A comparison of students who had received a ticket and those who had not indicated no significant differences in ATP with regard to police ability to prevent crime, competence, or general ATP. However, those who had received a citation rated police more negative on police brutality, abusiveness, and trust and support. Further, for those who had received a citation, a negative evaluation of that contact was significantly related to negative attitudes toward police on all six dimensions assessed. Ticketed respondents who felt they had been victimized by an unfair police decision, police profanity, or abuse also showed more negative attitudes on all six dimensions. Finally, the significant relationships between receiving a citation and the six ATP scales disappeared when the influence of negative contact, perceived unfair decisions, police profanity, and verbal abuse were controlled for. Results suggest that receiving a traffic citation is not the determinant of negative ATP. Rather, negative ATP derive from respondents' perceptions and evaluation of the interaction that occurred at the time of contact. 9 tables and 25 references.