A Brief Review of Research on Citizens' Attitudes Toward Police Officers/Departments

Introduction

Perceptions about police officer/department legitimacy has recently become a major topic of interest for scholars and law enforcers.  Citizens’ perceptions about police work has been shown to influence the methods of law enforcement in a jurisdiction, as well as impact the behaviors of people in a community and even the allocation of other services in a specific area (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  These mitigating circumstances become problematic when civilians hold negative attitudes toward police officers/departments in their communities.  More specifically, police work is hindered because of the lack of cooperation from citizens in various forms, which, as above-mentioned, increases the rate of victimizations and overall crime rates, and communities typically disengage from formal regulations that lead to an accepted lawlessness when there are negative perceptions abundant (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  These issues pose no positive contribution to society and require serious policy implications in order to quell the negative attitudes that are causing not only poor relationships with police work, but also causing extended distress in some communities (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  Thus, this essay will summarize a few studies on citizens’ attitudes toward police officers/departments and display their findings so that the audience can have a better understanding on the subject.

Summary of Research

Mitigating circumstances often have collateral effects that make goals and regulations difficult to achieve and enforce.  This is especially true for police work in society.  When there is a large number of negative outlooks toward police officers/departments, the goals and regulations in society that guide police work and maintain social structure become more difficult to attain and enforce.  Sunshine and Tyler (2003) presented this issue.  Particularly, these authors suggested that police officers/departments are successful in their public relations and crime control methods when citizens view them as legitimate (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, pp. 526-527).  The determinants of legitimacy by citizens were even included in this study as well (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, pp. 526-527).  That is, perceived fairness and good performance were the primary reasons that citizens used to judge police officers/departments (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, pp. 526-527).  Such results confirm the idea that police-citizen relations are determined by public perceptions and even influence the protocols of police departments toward citizens and that individual interactions are significant contributing factors.  Specifically, and put more simply, the better the citizen perception and overall community perception, the better the police work; which includes more acceptance of crime control tactics, community policing endeavors, and other processes during other calls for services (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004). 

Additionally, most of the research on citizen perception about police legitimacy has suggested that external variables shape public attitudes toward police officers/departments and even promulgate desired policing methods (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  Explaining more, studies have shown that when horrific incidents occur that public attitudes about police departments/officers can sway between positive and negative outlooks depending on the situation, that perceptions about the criminal justice system in general and other public agencies or public practitioners shapes perceptions toward police officers/departments, and that peer-related experiences develop perceptions about police legitimacy (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  It is important to note that these external variables can influence individuals’ attitudes toward police officers/departments without them having any direct contact with police officers (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  Furthermore, it has been stated by researchers that because police departments gage their policing methods on community and individual perceptions that constant public relations work should be undergone so that when an external variable comes about, or a direct negative situation comes about, that police officer/legitimacy is not scrutinized (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004). 

Contrastingly, some scholars have suggested that procedural fairness may not have a significant impact on citizen attitudes toward police officers/departments given the conditions of environments and prior history of government bodies (Tankebe, 2009, pp. 1270-1272).  More precisely, research has shown that minority neighborhoods, other socioeconomically disadvantaged persons, and jurisdictions that have dealt with severe injustices seldomly depart from their poor attitudes toward police officers/departments.  Tankebe (2009) discusses this in his publication.  Specifically, Tankebe (2009) discusses how some citizens base their perception toward police officers by their previous experiences with political corruption and even base their attitudes on what individual incentives there are for having a positive perception toward police officers (Tankebe, 2009, pp. 1281-1282).  Such a finding presents the notion that perceptions about police legitimacy is a general to specific philosophy by those who are critiquing the police officers/departments, as well as infers that any processes undergone to change negative attitudes in citizens’ minds can be very difficult to overcome. 

Turning to additional critiques that concentrate on perceived racial and ethnic biases and socioeconomic status variables, many researchers have found that many citizens’ attitudes are based on their understanding of racism and ethnic prejudices in direct and indirect police-related experiences, as well as disgruntled attitudes regarding indigence and perceived external opinions about socioeconomic status (Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  Specifically, Tyler (2004) stated:

 “… people value being treated with dignity and respect by legal authorities.  The quality of interpersonal treatment is consistently found to be a distinct element of fairness, separate from the quality of the decision-making process.  Above and beyond the resolution of their problems, people value being treated with politeness and having their rights acknowledged.” (p. 94)   

Such a postulation, again, infers that citizens’ attitudes toward police officers/departments are based on previous experiences, confounding variables, and desires or expectations that police officers/departments are supposed to uphold (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  Racial and ethnic minorities – especially in the United States – have an extended history of poor treatment by police officers/departments, and even if a minority has no negative experiences with police officers, research has shown that the above-mentioned exposure and knowledge of police-related biases based on race or ethnicity do contribute to negative perceptions toward police officers/departments in general and specific fashions (Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  Of this, even when fair treatment by police officers/departments is implemented it, at times, does not initiate change in some individuals’ negative perceptions on police officers (Sunshine & Tyler, 2002; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004). 

Socioeconomic variables are similar to perceived racial and ethnic biases.  That is, studies have shown that citizens, or communities at large, that have low socioeconomic status have such extreme disdain toward police officers/departments, as well as other government organizations, that when fair interactions are undergone by police officers that they are overlooked by specific members of society and even entire communities (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  As previously mentioned, disgruntled attitudes about low financial status and perceived notions about external thoughts tend to guide negative perceptions from citizens in this category (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  It is not always specifically mentioned, but the research on this subject typically infers that low socioeconomic status individuals, to some degree, believe they are targeted by police officers because of their financial background and other living characteristics; which, in turn, explains how important perceived police legitimacy is in our society.  

  

Conclusion

In sum, citizens’ perceptions about police officers/departments are manufactured by a host of interpersonal experiences and external variables that guide individuals’ perceptions (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  Even when police officers/departments are fair in their law enforcement practices, or attempt to display tendencies that demonstrate sincere applications of unbiased justice when known negative attitudes are present, many cynical perceptions still exist because of the above-mentioned variables (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004).  The research has shown that perceived legitimacy comes about when positive interactions are part of an individual’s life course, however, and as previously stated, the poor attitudes are still apparent in some persons because of previous experiences and variables that guide their perceptions on police officers/departments (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, 2003; Tankebe, 2009; Tyler, 2004; Tyler & Wakslak, 2004). 

References

Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T.  (2003).  Moral solidarity, identification with the community and the

            importance of procedural justice:  The police prototypical representatives of a group’s

            moral values.  Social Psychology Quarterly, 66(2), 153-165.  

Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T.  (2003).  The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public

            support for policing.  Law & Society Review, 37(3), 513-548. 

Tankebe, J.  (2009).  Public cooperation with the police in Ghana:  Does procedural fairness

            matter?  Criminology, 47(4), 1265-1293. 

Tyler, T. R.  (2004).  Enhancing police legitimacy.  The ANNALS of the American Academy of

Political and Social Science, 593, 84-99.  

Tyler, T. R., & Wakslak, C. J.  (2004).  Profiling and police legitimacy:  Procedural justice,

            attributions of motive, and acceptance of police authority.  Criminology, 42(2), 253