CRITICAL FACTORS IN PUBLIC SATISFACTION WITH POLICE SERVICES
by
David Scott Nickel
Bachelor of Art in Justice Studies
Royal Roads University / 2012
MAJOR PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS (CRIMINAL JUSTICE)
In the
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
© David Scott Nickel / 2018
UNIVERSITY OF THE FRASER VALLEY
Winter 2018
All rights reserved. This work may not be
reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy
or other means, without permission of the author.

Approval

Name: David Scott Nickel
Degree: Master of Arts (Criminal Justice) Degree
Title: Critical Factors in Public Satisfaction with Police Services

Examining Committee
Amanda McCormick, PhD.
GPC Chair
Associate Professor, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

____________________________________________________________
Yvon Dandurand, M.A.
Associate Professor, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

____________________________________________________________
Doug LePard, M.A.
External Examiner
Chief, Transit Police
____________________________________________________________

Date Defended/Approved: April 20, 2018

ii

Abstract
Critical factors that contribute to defining public satisfaction are viewed in the context of
citizens’ confidence in police services emanating from heightened expectations in service
outcomes. The perception of legitimacy as it pertains to the acceptance of police services leads
citizens to feel obligated to obey police decisions and authority voluntarily. It is the notion of
voluntariness in compliance that defines the qualities of legitimacy. Further, the concept of
public trust builds on normative values that also impact the voluntariness of compliance with
democratic principles in society. Procedural fairness concerns public perceptions of how citizens
are treated reflecting a consistency of quality in police services. Procedural fairness balances
the needs of governmental services with the needs of citizens satisfaction particularly when
citizens experience a personal crisis. These are the critical factors discussed in this paper.
The importance of satisfaction with police services is therefore related to the public’s
perceptions of police effectiveness and efficiency. In other words, the more the public perceive
their police service as efficient in the way in which it deals with crime, how fairly they treat
people, how effectively they react to concerns of the citizens, and that they see the matter
through to an appropriate resolution, the more it is satisfied with police services.
Conflict theory guided this research as the theoretical framework. It suggests that conflict
in society is related to social resources, between those who have and those who have not. When
emotional, moral, symbolic and material interests are mobilized, these interests become
conflicted. Police services were partially established as a social control agency for conflict
management. The police corporate culture is characterized by aggression and assertiveness,
thereby influencing the elements of public satisfaction in the delivery of police services as it
relates to the conflict management role.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge all faculty members in this program, at the University of the
Fraser Valley, who have guided me and assisted me in arriving at the end goal of completing this
degree. I would especially like to thank my primary supervisor, Professor Yvon Dandurand. In
these past few months, I have learned more from your guidance than any other portion of the
program. Your continual high expectations of my product forced me to work harder and learn
more than I would have otherwise. I truly appreciate how much you care about your students and
their success
Secondly, when I began this program, I was starting a new position, in a new detachment,
with a new boss, Gary Yeung. He had no idea who I was, or what he was getting, but fully
supported my desire to attend school and made sure I always had the days off I needed to
accommodate my schedule. For that, I am genuinely grateful as this would not have happened
without that support. Sometimes the simplest things have the most significant impact.

iv

Dedication
I dedicate this work to my wife Candace, for the never-ending support I received while
working through this process. I spent many nights after work on my papers and school work, and
I was always met with support and encouragement. Candace, you have continuously been my
rock, and for that my heart will always be yours. To my two beautiful daughters, Olivia and
Kaitlyn, I realize that my schooling has taken me away from time that could have been spent
with the two of you, however, both of you were always ensuring I was doing my work and
getting good grades. You never complained and always cheered in my corner. I appreciate you
all and love you more than can be expressed in writing.
I could not have made it through this without the support, time dedication, and constant
encouragement of my father, Dr. Orville Nickel. The many hours you have spent pouring over
my work to ensure I put forward a good product is one of the main reasons for my success in this
program and paper. To my mother, Judy Newman, and step-mother, Maria Nickel, your support,
encouragement, and assistance with anything I required were also very much appreciated. It
indeed takes a village to raise and support a family.

v

Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... iv
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1
Public Satisfaction ................................................................................................................ 1
Public Confidence ..........................................................................................................................4
Public Trust....................................................................................................................................8
Legitimacy .....................................................................................................................................9
Procedural Justice ........................................................................................................................ 13

Measuring Public Satisfaction ............................................................................................ 17
Study Measurement Limitations ........................................................................................ 24
Theoretical Framework: Conflict Theory: ......................................................................... 25
Community Policing ..................................................................................................................... 27

Group Vulnerability ........................................................................................................... 32
The Neighborhood of Citizens....................................................................................................... 32
Police Use of Force ....................................................................................................................... 33
Race and Ethnicity:....................................................................................................................... 34

Conclusion: ........................................................................................................................ 41
References .......................................................................................................................... 44

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Introduction
Contemporary policing issues can be controversial and thereby impact public opinions of
the police. As an example, consider the impact of public protests by professional athletes, in the
United States. The action taken publicly to protest against police brutality by some professional
football players who would not stand during the playing of the U.S. national anthem at game
time. In that context, conflict theory emphasized the state’s coercive role in maintaining social
order. Within the role of government coerciveness, the police are usually the instrument of
government to assure social order, sometimes through using force. The athlete’s protest drew
attention to the excessiveness of the force used by the police, particularly deadly force.
Only a small portion of society has direct contact with a police officer (Maguire &
Johnson, 2010). However, everyone holds an opinion regarding police services, whether they
have experienced direct contact with the police or not. The way in which we capture information
about public expectations of police services is complicated. Therefore, identifying, capturing,
and analyzing this information is one way of gaining a greater understanding of the factors that
contribute to public satisfaction regarding their police service. This discussion begins with and is
centered on the factors that impact public satisfaction regarding police service helping to create a
more robust definition of what public satisfaction represents.

Public Satisfaction
Public satisfaction with police services relates to other important concepts such as public
confidence or trust in the police or the perceived legitimacy of the police. Measuring public
satisfaction in the police is therefore not always as straigthfroward a task as it might seem.

1

Public satisfaction in police services is not easy to measure because social scientists work
with ideas that are complex or have many aspects to them. A single measure of satisfaction
losses the composite sophistication of knowledge regarding different aspects of public
satisfaction in police services, therefore, this paper will discuss the concept of public satisfaction
from the aspect of a series of factors and how they are related. The factors of interest look at the
contributing components through the lenses of public confidence, legitimacy, public trust and
procedural justice.
In a U.S. study, Weitzer and Tuch (2005) address public satisfaction, regarding policing,
from a local crime perspective. They advance two hypotheses; firstly, that the safer one feels in
one’s neighborhood, the greater one’s satisfaction is with police services. Secondly, in
geographical locations where crime is deemed a severe issue, the satisfaction with police services
is lower. Weitzer and Tuch (2005) further hypothesize that the more efficient the police appear
to be at solving the crime, the higher the satisfaction. In their study, they used data from a nationwide survey of Caucasians, Hispanics, and African Americans to understand how situational and
structural factors shape attitudes towards police. Weitzer and Tuch (2005) discovered that race
influenced both satisfaction questions. Almost half of the Caucasians, 46%, were satisfied with
police in their cities, followed by just 22% of African Americans, and 36% of Hispanics.
Furthermore, 14% of Caucasians were dissatisfied with police, while 27% of African Americans
and 20% of Hispanics were dissatisfied. For satisfaction with police who work in the
respondent's neighborhood, Weitzer and Tuch (2005) found that 48% of Caucasians were
satisfied, followed by 25% of African Americans, and one 33% of Hispanics. Weitzer and Tuch
(2005) concluded that African Americans and Hispanics are significantly more dissatisfied with

2

police than are Caucasians. Both hypotheses were supported by a total sample finding that
personal safety, both during the day and night increases public satisfaction, while perceptions of
serious crimes in one's neighborhood lowers public satisfaction. The hypothesis that perceptions
of police effectiveness in fighting crime increase the overall satisfaction of all three racial groups
was also supported (Weitzer & Tuch, 2005).
Hynds and Murphy (2007), refer to Tyler’s study (1990), of Chicago residents showing
that what was related to the overall public satisfaction with police was the way people were
treated by the police, that is, the quality component of police services. In other words, whether
the citizens were provided an opportunity to explain their behavior thoroughly, and if they were
treated with respect (Weitzer & Tuch, 2005). In other studies, the quality of service component
of public satisfaction can be referred to as procedural justice.
Public satisfaction with police services entails some factors that, when combined, help to
explain what public surveys are trying to accomplish when studying police services. Factors
like, public confidence in police services, is essential as it describes how the public can rely on
the police to provide a meaningful service that contributes to public safety. Institutional
legitimacy is discussed from the perspective of the authority enshrined in the police service by
statute that obligates the public to voluntarily participate or accept police roles and decisions in a
meaningful way. Public trust is discussed as well, which is essential as it is correlated with the
original meaning of democratic government and the idea that within the public lies the real
power and future of a society. Lastly, this discussion addresses procedural justice, indicating
that the public is concerned with how the citizens are treated by the police, that is consistency in
quality of service and fairness.

3

Canadians who report a high level of satisfaction with their safety from crime, rate police
performance higher in all categories compared to those who are less satisfied. More than threequarters of those who were very satisfied believed police are doing a good job enforcing the
laws, promptly responding to calls, and ensuring the safety of citizens, were well above the
proportion of those who were very dissatisfied with their safety (Cotter, 2015). The importance
of public satisfaction with police services reflect opinions in public surveys that are hard to
ignore.

Public Confidence
Public confidence is critical for any police service to be effective in safeguarding the
public. The public is a vital source of information and the public cooperation and trust in the
police service are often critical to the police agencies abilities in providing a meaningful service
to the public. Confidence in police services is often about their visibility in the community,
leadership, responsiveness, reliability, and safety to name but some of the factors impacting
confidence.
In Canada, public confidence in policing is higher than in any other institution. Based on
the 2014 General Social Survey, Cotter (2015), found that three in four Canadians (76%) had
either a great deal of confidence in police or some confidence in the police, followed by the
school system at 61% and banks at 59%. The data from the survey indicated that the public was
more confident in police services than in education and the private sector showing that during
calls for police services the expectations would be relatively significant. A higher expectation in
police services could also foster a higher level of disappointment if the outcome of the service
did not meet public expectations. The disappointment factor could partly explain the extreme

4

dissatisfaction and loss of confidence when the police use deadly force within their response to a
call for service. Maintaining heightened expectations through public confidence is therefore tied
to the request for service outcome which may be a misleading statistical result when the outcome
of police services is excessive, a consideration when force is applied.
Research in Thailand, Sahapattana, and Cobkit (2016) found that attitudes towards crime
suppression and crime prevention had the strongest correlation with public confidence, in, and
attitudes towards police. This study looked at four categories: demographic, contextual, contact,
and police performance. Sahapattana and Cobkit (2016) found that older females with lower
education and a lower income tended to have a higher level of confidence in the police. They
also discovered that people who have not been victimized and are not fearful of crime were more
confident in the police. Sahappattana and Cobkit (2016) also found that citizen-initiated contact
with police resulted in higher levels of confidence. Finally, they found that a positive relationship
between the effective prevention and crime suppression resulted in confidence in the police
(Sahappattana & Cobit, 2016). The three conclusions the research of Shahappattana and Cobit
(2016) drew were that 65 % of Thai people had confidence in the police. Confidence in the
police cannot rely on a single variable, such as demographics only, and police must be wellrounded performers to maintain peoples faith in police services.
Kautt (2011) looked at why research into public confidence in the police is rapidly
growing in the United States, while seemingly much slower in the United Kingdom. Her study
looked at assessing the generalizability and integrated theoretical perspectives from both
countries. Kautt (2011) found that United States research lacked a conceptual framework such
as Weitzer and Tuch (2005). That being said, she goes on to speak of the theoretical framework
proposed by Wilson and Kelling, 1982 (cited in Kautt, 2011), as one of the most relevant

5

theories in the United States. Kautt (2011) speaks of how the broken windows diagrams a
sophisticated method of relationships between crime, disorder, the community, and social
cohesion, the last point being trust and confidence, not only found in the community, but also in
the institution of policing. In essence, police can interrupt the cycle of crime by taking swift
action against nuisance behavior and lower level crimes (Kautt, 2011). The idea is that a failure
on the part of the police to take these steps to reduce lower-level crimes creates a lack of public
confidence (Kautt, 2011). The broken windows model lays two claims; firstly, that crime is a
function of local circumstances; and secondly, serious crimes such as rape and murder are
functions of visible signs of “disorder” found in public space (Jefferson, 2016). In the United
Kingdom, the signal crimes perspective, which argues that specific events or incidents signal,
increase the level of risk for crime and disorder (Kautt, 2011). Signal crimes then posit that this
modifies behavior, due to weakened social order, which in turn causes the people to alter their
behavior (Kautt, 2011). The negotiated order framework (United States), Klinger 1997, (cited by
Kautt, 2011) suggests that the amount and the nature of the problem the police come across
results in a triage-like response from the police in specific high deviance areas. Whereby officers
routinely screen-out less serious calls for service to deal with the more serious one.
Kautt's (2011) research uncovered that many factors in public confidence in the police
were similar between the two countries. Having a negative experience, in both countries, with
the police, or the perception of high crime or disorder lowered the level of confidence in the
police. There were apparent differences between the two countries as well, such as policeinitiated contact in London and Wales seemed to increase confidence in the police. Kautt (2011)
found that crime theories do not always make perfect fits from nation to nation. In this case, she

6

suggested taking the signal crime (Britain), and the negotiated order (United States), to create the
negotiated signals framework.
Perkins (2016) conducted an online, and manual survey, in the district of York, United
Kingdom, to evaluate public confidence within the city, including police. What this research
found was that even in a small city, there are overall differences in the framework make-up of
public confidence in the police (Perkins, 2016). Perkin (2016) suggested that depending on the
area being policed, or the specific neighborhoods, policing operations will need to consider the
views of residents to maintain public confidence.
Public confidence in the police, as researched by Wooden and Rogers (2014), may
impact the “community policing” model. After an incident whereby, public confidence in
policing is damaged, Wooden and Rogers (2014) found that the community policing model is the
best for a “repair style” model as it focuses on building positive relationships with community
members while attempting to address the community issues.
In policing, ‘public support has become an essential element for departments across
nations (Lee & McGovern, 2013). For example, Mawby, 2010, (cited in Lee & McGovern,
2013), outlines how the UK Home Office made public confidence the critical indicator in police
performance. Therefore, it is essential that police agencies build up their understanding of the
factors that affect public confidence in the police.
Public confidence can be positively, or negatively, correlated with public satisfaction.
Weitzer and Tuch (2005), Hynds and Murphy (2007), and Cotter (2015) all found that the better
treatment of citizens leads to higher satisfaction, which leads to higher confidence in the police.
Although the two are not the same, research as mentioned above, indicates they are necessarily

7

overlapping by definition.

Public Trust
Trust in the police is related to the idea of democratic government and that within the
public lies power and the future of a society. Therefore that trust is related to the constitutional
oversight of police services and how their services can be delivered in a free and democratic
society. That is, the public relies on the police to provide services consistent with the law and
normative practices.
Cao, Lai, and Ruohui (2012) conducted a study of 50 nations, and over 69,000
respondents finding there is a relationship between satisfaction relative to the political party in
power, and the public confidence in trusting the police. They found that nations with a higher
level of democracy have higher levels of satisfaction with the police services. Stability in the
government, according to Cao et al. (2012), was seen to promote confidence in the police.
According to Goldsmith (2005), the public trust in government is closely aligned to the
widespread acceptance of its actions within the democratic framework. Furthermore, Goldsmith
(2005), spoke of establishing trust in “low trust” environments, such as countries where
government corruption and total lack of public support are significant issues. Canada, as outlined
by Cao et al., (2012), enjoys an overall higher level of trust in its government institutions
because the issues like corruption are not as prominent. As a comment about influencing public
trust in Canada, the police might think about working with groups like sex trade workers to
impact group trust which appears to have an influence on overall public trust as a society.
Socially marginal groups, however, might have limited impact on the overall societal opinions of
public trust in police services.

8

By using the European Social Survey (ESS), Hough (2012) explored public trust in
policing across 28 countries. Preliminary findings from Hough (2012) suggest that effective
compliance says people comply with the law because police present a significant risk of penalty
and punishment. Alternatively, the normative route argues that people abide by the law because
they ought to. What this research found was while trust in police effectiveness is an essential
predictor of peoples sense of the risk of penalty. Perceived risk was not a significant factor in
their compliance with the law, and therefore, their research found that deterrence was not the
quickest route to securing agreement (Hough, 2012).
Secondly, Hough (2012) found that trust in police was a significant predictor of perceived
legitimacy. Trust in the police was experienced through procedural fairness which fostered
feelings of motive-based confidence in the police (Hough, 2012). Legitimacy, they found to be a
powerful predictor of compliance (Hough, 2012). Lastly, Hough (2012) found that legal
cynicism and personal morality strongly predicted public acceptance of police services. This
level of local collaboration is as important as an outcome of legitimacy, in binding the
relationship between the police and public and promote the notion of crime as a collaborative
issue (Hough, 2012).

Legitimacy
Legitimacy in police services is, “ a quality possessed by an authority, a law, or an
institution that leads others to feel obligated to obey its decisions and directives voluntarily”
(Maguire & Johnson, 2010, p.705; Kuhns & Knutsson, 2010, p.208, quoting Tyler & Huo, 2002,
p.102). That is, the authority demonstrates legitimacy when it conforms to established rules that
are justifiable in a Canadian context, a free and democratic society. The notion of voluntariness

9

in compliance marks the defining qualities of legitimacy (Maguire & Johnson, 2010).
Researchers typically ask people about their perceived obligation to obey the law, their
perceptions about the law and legal systems and their trust and confidence. Maguire & Johnson
(2010), indicated that public understanding of legitimacy overlaps in both concept and
measurement, with satisfaction, justice, fairness, and quality of service. Maguire and Johnson
(2010) found that more effort into measurement properties with a broader, more diverse
community, into research of police legitimacy, was required for legitimacy to be made relevant
and empirically distinguishable, and more significant depth of research would be needed to focus
on these specific characteristics.
Lee and McGovern (2013) speak to the importance of legitimacy as it is required in
policing to be effective, receive ongoing public support. The term police legitimacy often
overlaps in definition with the topics of public trust or confidence. Legitimacy could also be
defined as a “property of authority or institution that leads people to feel that authority or
institution is entitled to be deferred to and obeyed” (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003, p. 514).
Hynds and Murphy (2007), found that when the public view the police as legitimate, that
finding correlated into a positive influence on their satisfaction with police. Police require the
assistance of the public following the law to help maintain the law. If the vast majority of the
public follow the law, then this is a good indication that people view them as legitimate, which is
essential in maintaining social order. Mazerolle, Antrobus, Bennett, and Tyler (2013) speak to
the importance of procedural justice and point out the four foundational pieces to it. They speak
of citizen participation, fairness and neutrality, dignity, and respect, followed by pure motives.
These characteristics noted above, are expected of the police, and perceived violations of these
expectations impact the public satisfaction and legitimacy of their service.

10

Research has demonstrated that, in a democratic society, people's perceptions of the
police have real consequences to how the public reacts to the police (Tyler, 1990, 1997).
Research has also shown us that legitimacy and peoples judgment thereof is linked to, age,
gender, education level, and so forth (Lyn, 2009). Studies carried out by Sampson and JeglumBartusch (1998), as well as Reisig and Park (2000) found that higher crime rates and lower crime
reporting rates were associated with higher mistrust of police, or a lack of seeing the police as
legitimate. Research has shown that there are links between legitimacy, compliance, and
cooperation as outlined by Aziz, Huq, Jackson, and Trinkner (2017)(see also: Maguire &
Johnson, 2010).
Christmas (2012), indicated that the concept of policing contributing to the safe living
conditions, positive peace, with a social justice system that for all is introduced as a way to
legitimize police in a Canadian context, is essential. Christmas (2012) was looking at this from
an Aboriginal standpoint; however, it is a concept that can be used for policing in general.
Gatlung (1996) distinguished negative peace, the absence of war, and the positive order, which
he included as the elimination of poverty, improved education, and social welfare. However,
Christmas (2012), took that a step further and argued that the people are the police. He makes
this statement because, without the support and partnership of the people, the police will
accomplish very little. This statement is also included in Peel’s Principles of Policing, wherein
the Home Secretary of Britain asserted that “the police are the people, and the people are the
police” (Lentz & Chaires, 2007, Robert Peel’s Principle No.7).
As noted by Madon, Murphy, and Sargent (2017), police legitimacy is a struggle
worldwide. With this in mind police agencies are now adapting their approach with minority
communities to gain, or regain, their trust and confidence, thereby enhancing their legitimacy in

11

these areas (Madon et al., 2017). Again, Madon et al. (2017) are speaking of a concept already
mentioned in this paper, procedural justice. They too found that regardless of what the incident
was, police officers were judged on their interactions with the citizens and the citizen's
perceptions of the police legitimacy were based on, if the interaction was deemed to be fair and
reasonable, not whether someone was charged or taken to jail. Peoples perceptions become
important for the police as the way in which an individual was dealt with will be conveyed to
their social group, which can either be a positive message or a negative message (Madon et al.,
2017).
Most recently, work on legal socialization by Trinkner, Jackson, and Tyler (2016) has
been followed up by Aziz et al. (2017) hypothesizing that legitimacy turns partly on the belief
that police respect the bounds of their authority, i.e. ‘bounded authority.' As Trinkner et al.
(2016) argue, individuals do not cede unlimited jurisdiction to legal powers. They divide their
lives into realms, some of which are off limits to the imposition of formal authority. The notion
of limited authority goes beyond the relational nature of procedural justice because it captures
processes that represent the misuse of power. Relatedly, police frequently use monitoring
technologies, including CCTV, wiretaps and bulk internet intercepts, to pursue both
counterterrorism and also crime-control missions (Manning 2011; Harding 2014). These
measures have promoted controversy, raising the question whether perceptions of police
intrusions on privacy impinge on legitimacy. Lately, however, an alternative formulation of
legitimacy has developed that, a priori marks as integral elements of legitimacy what Tyler and
others see as potential origins of legitimation (Bottoms & Tankebe, 2012; Tankebe,
2013; Tankebe et al., 2015). From this formulation, for a person to believe that the police are
legitimate, it is the case that he or she must accept that the police are procedurally fair,

12

distributively fair, efficient and lawful. If one continues these views, it is not so much that one is
likely to also see the police as legitimate. Instead, these opinions are considered to form the
belief that the police are reasonable, has a necessary implication. In work by Tyler and
associates, it was an empirical question whether these features might legitimate with, procedural
fairness emerging as more important than effectiveness, as an example. However, in work by
Tankebe et al. (2015), the factor is legitimacy, in the sense that legitimacy constitutes the
perceived right to power. Finally, Lee and McGovern (2011), speak of how legitimacy is
important for maintaining public consent, support, and ongoing voluntary cooperation. In 2018,
police actions can be seen in the news, on social media, or streamed live on the internet. The
research of Sunshine and Tyler (2003), and Tyler and Fagan (2008) point out that if the actions
of the police are viewed as procedurally just, then the citizens view the police as just. The
finding is then that police legitimacy builds public satisfaction, and that the two are positively
correlated.

Procedural Justice
Procedural justice could be conceived of as, a joint production that takes place between
police and the communities that they serve. Community policing could be an example. If one is
seeking public trust and perceptions of legitimacy, they must understand that this is not a project
that they can undertake for people; it must be done together, the police with the people.
Tyler et al. (2008), indicated that procedural justice is concerned with how the citizens
that are policed are dealt with and treated, that is consistency in quality of service and fairness
(Benoit et al., 2016). Murphy, Mazerolle, and Bennett (2014) argue that a procedural-based
justice approach offers an efficient way to build trust in the police. In this study, Murphy et al.

13

(2014), in partnership with the University of Queensland, and the Queensland Police service
implemented a change in police procedure during 60 major breath test operations involving
21,000 drivers. Murphy et al. (2014) set out to see if by introducing elements of procedural
justice, voice, neutrality, trustworthiness, and respect could increase public perceptions of
procedural justice and police legitimacy. What Murphy et al. (20214) found in the study was that
the improvements of procedural justice did, in fact, yield a significant effect on public trust and
confidence. Which, was contrary to findings of Skogan, 2006 (cited by Murphy et al., 2014),
who had found that positive encounters with police were not overly critical in positive
perceptions of police. Murphy et al. (2014) findings were also supported by Myhill and Bradford
(2012).
In an article by Schulenberg, Chenier, Buffone, and Wojciechowski (2016), they
discussed the Canadian police complaint system (PCS), discovering data that suggest the
majority of people polled have negative views of complaints due to distrust in the system. Work
by Thibaut and Walker, 1975, (Cited by Schulenberg et al., 2016) who described procedural
justice as for how citizens are treated affects perceptions of an outcome being favorable or not.
What Schulenberg et al. (2016) found was that stakeholders, citizens, police, government
officials, and community leaders felt that the Office of the Independent Police Review Director
(OIPRD), in Ontario, was lacking independence. They had little confidence in the investigation
process itself, there was fear of reprisals, and they had concerns about the structure and
operation. The lack of confidence shows that faith in the system itself, can not be separated from
procedural justice (Schulenerg et al., 2016). In this case, Schulenberg et al. (2016) point out that
increased use of formal resolution is a way to open communication between police and citizens,
which will add transparency. Creating transparency strengthens the foundations of procedural

14

justice and could improve the trust in the PCS. The idea of more citizen involvement in the
process, or training citizens to be involved in some way, directly with the process allows the PCS
to be more accessible to different populations within the community (Schulenberg et al., 2016).
This factor, often referred to as procedural justice, as outlined by Sunshine and Tyler
(2003), indicating that public satisfaction is directly linked to public judgments regarding the
overall fairness of the process by which the police make decisions and exercise authority.
Hohl, Bradford, and Stanko (2010) discussed how communication lies at the heart of any
relationship between police and the public. They indicated that the police should concentrate on
communicating directly with the public via newsletter, with the intention of building trust and
confidence (Hohl et al., 2010). Research questions could then be tested, via follow up survey of
the people who received the newsletters, to measure the public perceptions of police fairness,
police effectiveness, feeling informed, and police contact. This was a quasi-random experiment
using three electoral wards in London England (Hohl et al., 2010). The people were randomly
broken up into groups and interviews were conducted with before and after groups of
respondents. Before the newsletter, 38 percent of respondents felt informed of police activities in
the local area, and after the newsletter, that number grew to 49 percent (Hohl et al., 2010).
Furthermore, before the newsletter, respondents held a significantly less favorable view of police
community engagement, and after the newsletter, the respondents advised they held substantially
higher opinions of police community engagement (Hohl et al., 2010). This, suggested that
communication positively affected the public perception of policing and demonstrated that the
overall confidence in policing, as well as, public satisfaction opinions can be positively affected
by communication. Communication, therefore, is positively linked to fairness in police services
and public satisfaction overall.

15

A report prepared by Bradford, Jackson, and Stanko (2009), found that a slow 20-year
decrease in public confidence in Britain was due, in small part, to the growing dissatisfaction
with police services. They discovered that regular police patrols and the feeling of being
informed by police of their activities were associated with higher satisfaction levels.
Bradford (2014) hypothesized, in part, that police procedural justice will have an
association with social identity, that association between procedural justice and identity will vary
between people with one national identity, compared to multiple. People with stronger social
identity will be more likely to cooperate with police, and links between procedural justice, social
identity, and intentions to cooperate, will be mediated by the evaluation of its legitimacy.
Bradford (2014) made these hypotheses between UK and non-UK groups and found that
evidence to support his first hypothesis existed in both the UK and non-UK groups, it was much
in regards to the non-UK group (Bradford, 2014). He further found strong support for the
association between procedural fairness of police and social identity as it did vary depending on
if respondents felt single or multiple sense of citizenship. If people were citizens of another
country, they perceived fairness of the police was strongly associated with the extent of to which
they felt they belonged in London or Britain. However, those that identified as the UK group had
a weaker sense of police fairness and social identity (Bradford, 2014). For the second hypothesis,
the procedural justice and had both a direct association with cooperation, as well as an indirect
link via social identity. People felt they were non-UK citizens were more likely to cooperate with
police based on a stronger sense of belonging to the local and ‘British’ identities (Bradford,
2014). Finally, for the UK group, legitimacy judgments wholly mediated the statistical effect of
procedural justice on cooperation. Those who identified as non-UK had no independent
association between legitimacy and intentions to cooperate.

16

Measuring Public Satisfaction

Maslov (2015) critically reviewed and assessed survey methods that were used, in
Canada and internationally, to measure police performance. Maslov (2015) focused his report on
police performance measures and found that there is no one size fits all solution. Police work is
involved and multi-dimensional so the way in which they are measured needs to reflect that
(Maslov, 2015). Currently, many of the questions found on surveys like the General Social
Survey (2014), are found to be predominantly general, using questions referring to "favorable
views,” or “trust.” Maslov (2015), argues for more specific questions to understand what it is
citizens are satisfied dis-satisfied with regarding the service of the police. Through this report,
Maslov (2015) placed “best practice” procedures he has located throughout his research.
Secondly, based on the 2014 General Social Survey on Victimization, Cotter (2015),
found that 73% of Canadians believed the police were doing a good job at being approachable,
and easy to talk to. 70% saw police as ensuring the safety of citizens, 68% found police
responded to calls quickly, 68% found police treated people fair, 65% were satisfied with police
enforcement of the laws, and 62% felt police provided information on crime prevention.
When it came to victimization, those who had been victimized in the past 12 months were
associated with lower rankings of public satisfaction, possibly based on disappointing service
outcomes. Cotter (2015), found that people who reported criminal incidents to police were more
satisfied with the service mainly because the police were approachable and treating people fairly.
Aboriginals, overall, were less likely than non-Aboriginals to have high levels of
confidence in institutions. Most noticeably, Aboriginals who said they did have faith in
institutions were 15 percentage points lower than non-Aboriginals (43% compared to 58%)

17

(Cotter, 2015). In Canada, confidence in police did not vary by visible minority status (Cotter,
2015). In fact, high levels of confidence were more prevalent with immigrants in every category.
The 2014 General Social Survey found that the higher the education, the higher the
confidence in the police and the justice system overall. Canadians who were earning a household
income of 150, 000 or higher had more confidence in the police, the justice system, and the
courts (Cotter, 2015). Interestingly Cotter (2015) outlined how Canadian perspectives on public
satisfaction has positively increased over the past ten years. This chart below demonstrates that
Canadians found police improved in each of the remaining five categories (sourced from Chart 4,
Cotter, 2015).

Measures of Police Performance
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Being
Ensuring the
approachable and saftey of citizens
easy to talk to
in your area

Promptly
responding to
calls

Good job

Treating people
faily

Average job

Enforcing the
laws

Providing
information on
ways to prevent
crime

Poor job

Cotter (2015) outlined how people that had come in to contact, within the past 12 months,
had rated their satisfaction with the police less favorably. Cotter (2015), did attribute this, in
small part, to the nature in which people come into contact with police.

18

People who experience discrimination at the hands of police view them less favorably
(Cotter, 2015). For the 2014 General Social Survey, 4 million people self-identified as being
victims of discrimination, approximately 330, 000, perceived they had been discriminated
against by the police. “Racially differential confidence in the police warrants special attention
because it undermines the social integration of a community by creating multiple parallel social
differences based on race or ethnic group” (Cao, 2014, pg. 501). Cao (2014) researched
differential confidence between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people after discovering no such
research had been done before. Cao (2014) gathered his research from the 2009 General Social
Survey and random digital dialers for individuals 15 years of age and older. This research
indicated that the levels of confidence in the police within the Aboriginal community were
significantly lower then non-Aboriginals (Cao, 2014).
The 2017 National Justice Survey (Ekos Research, 2017), a large-scale national survey of
a random sample of 4,200 Canadians, dealt expressively with public confidence in the justice
system and in the police. In addition to the main survey, six in-person focus groups were
conducted to further elaborate on specific findings. There was also a follow-up survey conducted
of 1,863 respondents of the first survey to understand their level of understanding concerning the
criminal justice system. Finally, a three-day online discussion was held with 25 respondents from
the follow-up survey to clarify some of their findings (Ekos Resarch, 2017). The critical finding,
from the first survey, was that there was perceived targeting, by police, of vulnerable segments
of the population (Ekos Research, 2017). It also found that Canadians have a limited
understanding of the criminal justice system due, in part, to limited incentive to seek it out (Ekos
Research, 2017). In all six of the focus groups, public trust and confidence were raised in several
different contexts. One of those was policing were participants spoke about relationships

19

between police and the community, advising they would like to see increased efforts on the part
of the police to reach out to their communities and youth to foster trust (Ekos Research, 2017).
Respondents felt bias and profiling were being done by the police, and that the police department
would benefit from better community representation of diversity from the police who serve them
(Ekos Research, 2017). The survey indicated police should work towards being active
community members to avoid an us versus them mentality (Ekos Research, 2017).
In a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute, released February 20, 2018, visible
minorities appeared to have less confidence in both police and the courts than the rest of the
population.
Angus Reid (2018) suggests that a noticeable drop in public confidence among visible
minorities, as compared to 2016, is, in part, due to movements such as Black Lives Matter from
the United States bringing more attention to Canada’s similar structural inequalities. It should be
noted that this poll was completed before the verdict in the Gerald Stanley case.
Ellison, Pino, and Shirlow (2013) analyzed both instrumental, perceived the risk of
victimization, and expressive, instability and break down and the prevalence of unsociable and
anti-social behavior, influences on perceptions of the police. They looked at these concepts in the
context of inner-city neighborhoods in Northern Ireland. Ellison et al. (2013) found that
instrumental concerns regarding crime were more influential predictors of attitudes towards
crime than the expressive concerns. These authors used the 2007 New Lodge Study (cited in
Ellison et al., 2013) to draw these conclusions.
Ellison et al. (2013) applied the British Crime Survey framework used at the national
model to measure public confidence in the police to the local level with New Lodge Study, and
concentrated on the higher disadvantages, referring to a population of lower income, found in

20

Northern Ireland. At the national level, Ellison et al. (2013) acknowledged that significant
concerns of neighborhood disadvantage, social cohesion, and instability were more influential
than instrumental interests. However, their local analysis showed a different outcome. In a high
crime environment, revelaed that performance-related, instrumental concerns dealing with crime
control were a salient determinant in structuring perceptions of the police.
Bradford and Myhill (2015) explain triggers of a change in public confidence in police
via two forms. Instrumental accounts, which suggest that people trust in police and the criminal
justice system when they view both as effective in fighting crime and reducing offending. Also,
they talked about, expressive or affective accounts, which suggest, people place significant
emphasis on the social meaning of justice institutions as on their instrumental activities. Bradford
and Myhill (2015) researched these triggers and made four hypotheses. First, that perceiving an
increase in disorder, which they treated as an expressive factor, over time would be associated
with a decline in confidence in the police and criminal justice system. Secondly, perceiving an
increase in local collective ability to produce the desired result, an expressive factor, over time,
would create increased confidence in the police and the criminal justice system. Thirdly, the
increased perceived likelihood of being victimized, an instrumental factor, will over time be
associated to with a decline in confidence in the police and criminal justice system. Finally,
controlling for earlier victimization experiences, instrumental factor, a report of recent
victimization will be associated with a decline in confidence of police and the criminal justice
system. Victimization will always create a decline in confidence of the justice system including
police performance. Victims will feel as though there could have been something done to prevent
whatever they fell victim too. It could be said that it is up to the police officers to build

21

confidence in crime based victims. Rather than saying it is little the police can do to prevent
victimization, they could say that they will do everything possible to come up with a solution.
Bradford and Myhill (2015) discovered substantial evidence to support their first two
hypotheses. Their research produced weaker evidence for hypotheses three and four above.
Bradford and Myhill (2015) did conclude, from their study, that evidence did exist to support
both instrumental and expressive accounts in trust and confidence, with expressive showing
substantially stronger. However, collective efficacy, Bradford, and Myhill called the most
expressive explanatory variable was a constituent predictor of confidence.
Myhill and Beak (2008) researched factors in public confidence in the police. What they
found was police who understood what was relevant to the neighborhoods they worked in was
very important to establishing satisfaction and confidence in the police. Therefore, Myhill and
Beak (2008) recommended police implement neighborhood programs which focus on those
critical issues, and that in turn, may, positively impact the confidence policing. Myhill and Beak
(2008) also found when police were viewed as treating people fairly, and with respect, the
outcome was favorable for public confidence. A comparison was drawn however between New
York and their zero-tolerance policing which was seen to “pick on” a specific ethnic group.
Myhill and Beak (2008) emphasized the importance of police treating all people fairly and with
respect when they are dealing with them. Myhill and Beak (2008) emphasize this as they found
satisfaction with police encounters was very important in the overall public confidence in the
police. To come up with these questions, Myhill and Beak (2008), used the 2005/06 British
Crime Survey data. Of note, Myhill and Beak (2008) discovered that ethnicity, independent of
other factors, was not associated with confidence in the police. Myhill and Beak (2008)
suggested that this finding indicated that levels of confidence between ethnic groups stem from

22

other interactional factors, such as perceptions of the police activity and attitudes of local
neighborhoods. Ethnicity is important in determining public satisfaction. In some cases, ethnic
groups do not respect police because of their ethnic background and how the police treated
citizens in their country of origin. For other cultures, police are very much respected.
Interestingly, Myhill and Beak (2008) found that socio-demographic factors, ethnicity, according
to the British Crime Survey, found that, in England and Wales, white people had lower levels of
confidence in police compared to minorities. These findings, by Myhill and Beak (2008), were
based on the perception that minority groups perceived that police were dealing with things that
mattered to their community.
In a study by Jackson and Sunshine (2007), they found that disorder or fear of crime did
not influence public confidence in the police. Preferably, the concern for crime and the
confidence in the police were shaped by cohesion, trust, and moral consensus. For the public to
find confidence in the police, the police must share the same morals and values as the group, or
the public they serve. They must also treat these same people with dignity and respect which will
garner them favor from the citizens. Jackson and Sunshine (2007), argue that confidence in
policing not be driven by concerns of becoming victimized by crime or criminals, but rather
about the ability of police to maintain social cohesion. Crime can compromise the moral
structure of society, so people look to agents, like the police, to defend that structure, and reestablish it when it deteriorates. Jackson and Sunshine (2007) found confidence in policing was
at risk when the moral fabric was at risk, more so than the personal safety of the people.
Along with Maslov (2015), best practices in police performance measures were also
discussed by Davis (2012). Mastrofski, Worden, and Snipes (1999) collected data from 451 nontraffic police-suspect encounters gathered during police ride-along events in Richmond Virginia,

23

where police were putting new community police practices in place. Six domains of performance
(cited by Davis, 2012) are referenced as the system that captures the complex set of expectations
of citizens regarding the police. This performance model captures data from attentiveness,
reliability, responsiveness, competence, manners, and fairness (Davis, 2012). The New York
police department’s Compstat program was identified as practical use of performance indicators
as it allowed the department to set ambitious goals that they were able to monitor and efficiently
lead the officers to higher levels of performance (Davis, 2012). This report also looked at police
performance from a national level, saying that these standards need to be flexible and limited in
number (Davis, 2012). Making use of a mix of outcomes and outputs was also analyzed from the
perspective that while monitoring police performance and the satisfaction of the public, we need
to realize that not all socially desirable outcomes are within the police control (Davis, 2012). As
an example, Davis (2012), points to the fact that society cares about the number of convictions
from arrests. However, even with good police work, that does not always result in a sentence.

Study Measurement Limitations
Maslov (2015) looked at the barriers to asking the public about their satisfaction and
confidence in the police. He indicated that some of the people surveyed would have no
familiarity with the design of the methodology or questions posed in the surveys. The study
structure may then force someone to provide an answer under conditions that foster more
speculation then if the questions and study procedures were better understood. Maslov (2015),
finds this methodological limitation as a reoccurring issue in public opinion research but adds
that it may become more amplified when looking at public confidence in policing as respondents
could be providing responses that are not accurate reflections of their actual opinion. These

24

findings are echoed by Davis (2012) who points out that traditional measures of police outcomes
and outputs, in the form of surveys as an example, can be distorted as they are under the sole
control of the department to shape and mold. Bradford (2014) discussed limitations in measuring
public confidence by looking at social identity, saying that this was limited to the national and
local community by keeping research focused only on their sense of belonging. Bradford (2014)
pointed out that social identity also includes elements of pride and the evaluation of both the
group and individuals in it. Bradford went on to say that another limitation of his research was
the fact that it was self-reported. Self-reported research limited the information from intention, as
opposed to action (Bradford, 2012).
This paper relies on a literature review. Study limitations were impacted by the
limitations in each of their studies. The limitations in this paper also reflect my own biases as a
law enforcement practitioner and criminal justice specialist, educationally. Experience does
raise some awarenesses of current measures in police and citizen relationships that are unique to
the profession of policing which are components of my background. Recognizing personal
biases is a step away from total reliance on them and towards better methods of formulating
opinions and ideas.

Theoretical Framework: Conflict Theory:
Petrocelli, Piquero, and Smith (2003) hold that conflict theory outlines how law and its
enforcement is used by the dominant groups in society to minimize the threat to their interests
posed by the individuals whom the powerful in society have labeled as dangerous, such as
minorities and the poor. Petrocelli et al. (2003) cited Simmel (1950) and described conflict as a
fundamental social process whereby social groups jockey for power and dominance to maintain

25

the social structure that is important to them. Petrocelli et al. (2003) further go on to say that any
minority within the culture can be viewed as a threat to the dominant group’s existing social
order.
Smith and Holmes (2014), conducted research that found the conflict theory of law
provides the most accurate general framework for the police/public relationship. Their research
reflects police violence aimed at controlling populations viewed as menacing. Police officers
form preconceptions of the ecological territories they patrol, and economically disadvantaged
neighborhoods can be seen as problematic. Officers learn to associate such locales with
criminality, danger, and challenges to their authority (Smith and Holmes, 2014). Therefore, the
person being dealt with alternatively views the police as authoritarian, controlling and
disrespectful of their needs.
Hayle, Wortley, and Tanner (2016) also spoke of the conflict theory when looking at
marginalized communities saying that this theory focusses on the struggle between the powerful
and the powerless. Quinney, (1970), (cited by Hayle et al., 2016) goes on to say that crime is a
social construct that more powerful groups attach to the activities of the less powerful. Hayle et
al. (2016) point out that conflict theory seems to suggest that one’s socio-economic status is
related to the police attention they receive which tends to generate conflict with the police when
a group with limited social power is frequently confronted by the police. What Hayle et al.
(2016), found while looking at policing of marginalized populations, in this case, for example,
black street youth in Toronto, was that race attracted the attention of police. In their sample, nonwhite street youth were more likely to be stopped than white street youth. However, they found
that race was not the primary feature for the stops; instead, it was the fact that they were street
youth. These youths commit more crimes and come into contact with the police more often.

26

These findings further strengthen the conflict theory argument by reinforcing the fact that the
have-nots, the street youth, are causing problems for the more powerful, the average citizen.

Community Policing
The world of policing, like business or government, evolves and changes. Recently,
Community Policing has been significantly crucial in police strategies, and while today the focus
is on intelligence lead policing (ILP), we have learned that both community policing and ILP
come with positives and negatives. The evidence indicates that community policing and ILP can
be used collaboratively forming a new theory entitled "Community-Based Intelligent Policing"
(CBIP).
Carter (2013) found that community policing and ILP share a common conceptual
foundation in so much as there is a relationship between community policing and ILP.
Community policing enhances ILP through a two-way information flow between police and the
community. As we have learned, this is essential in building the confidence, trust, and
satisfaction of the public in the police. However, is there a need to move away from a strictly
community policing model? According to Ratcliffe (2016), community-based policing's primary
aim is to restore the legitimacy of police to the general public. The reality is that research
indicates this model is not translating into a reduction in crime.
Some argue for community-based policing, saying that it can reduce fear and concern
about crime (Gill, Weisburd, Telep, Vitter, & Bennette, 2014). The outcomes of community
policing programs may have an impact on crime reduction. There is no explicit theory of change
linking police-community collaboration to reduced crime. After all, crime comes from within
communities and therefore the motivation to minimize crime could be limited by the community
27

participants in the program. Motivation could further be reduced if the community lacks trust and
confidence in the police. Additionally, every community has different needs, so this cannot be a
one size fits all solution. The various programs would have to be unique to the needs of each
community. As an example, it is doubtful that the needs of Abbotsford, BC, are the same as
West Vancouver, BC. There are different communities within these cities, and therefore,
different approaches are required. These differing needs demonstrate the requirement to
combine the crime prevention approaches to gain a broader impact. While crime reduction is
now the desired goal of community policing, it was not a key reason for the adoption of
community-oriented policing (Skogan, 2006).
Community policing emerged from a need to expand the role of the police at a time when
their effectiveness at controlling crime was in doubt. A present-day example of such concerns is
currently playing out in the City of Surrey, BC, where in the past several years, has seen a
dramatic increase in violent gun crime. The local papers are often displaying the violence on the
front page. To attempt to gain some public confidence, the Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP) held "town hall meetings" where they encouraged residents and victim family
members to come out and voice their concerns and provide feedback. That also provided a venue
for police to explain to these people that they needed to attempt to have their friends and family
come forward with information and not avoid police altogether. The idea being that by engaging
the community police could appease citizens' concerns via their involvement. Often, when
someone is involved in the decision making, or he or she believes they are, there is more support
and buy-in for the things that need change. Community policing identified a host of roles for the
police beyond crime fighting. These roles included reducing fear, actioning social and physical
disorder in the community, and forging positive relationships with residents to enhance police

28

legitimacy, while rejecting law enforcement as the "core function" of police (Mastrofski, Worden
& Snipes, 1995). The notion of crime control as a critical outcome measure of community
policing actions most likely came about with the burgeoning expansion of community-oriented
policing in the 1990s, when community policing stations instigated the development of programs
that treated crime as a critical issue. Again, this was, and is, on display in Surrey, BC where the
RCMP have five community policing stations and one central office. In fact, several larger
communities, such as Coquitlam, BC, and Burnaby, BC, have multiple locations as well. Skogan
(2006), noted that both provincial and federal government agencies are concerned with crime
control and want community policing to be one tool for that purpose, but it is unlikely that any
police department adopted the community policing method as the primary method of reducing
crime and disorder. Perhaps this may explain why previous reviews (e.g., Sherman & Eck, 2002;
Skogan & Frydl, 2004; Weisburd & Eck, 2004) propose that, despite the massive investment in
community policing, its impact on crime has been somewhat limited.
What about intelligence lead policing (ILP)? Ratcliffe (2016), wrote that it is a more
"business-like" approach to crime fighting. Going on to say that via the use of proactive policing
that would be targeted by criminal intelligence. Sanders, Weston, and Schott (2015), drew their
definition of ILP from the Global Intelligence Working Group as a collection and analysis of
data that create an intelligence end product individually crafted to influence law enforcement
decision makers at both the tactical and strategic levels. Furthermore, Ratcliffe, Strang, and
Taylor (2014), described the framework of ILP as integrating "old school" policing such as
confidential informers and using information obtained via suspect interviews, with the "new era"
of policing using crime analysis, and surveillance of national databases. However, one looks at
ILP; it is dealing with intelligence gathered from reputable sources and providing that to law

29

enforcement with the aim of assisting them in crime reduction. As opposed to what we saw
above with community policing. ILP is not interested in anything other than data and using that
data to formulate an action plan on how best to deal with crime. Data-driven policing alone, may
not address the need to communicate with the community, and by its very design, leave the
public with more questions than answers.
Attempts at practicing ILP can be as painful as efforts to define the philosophy. Similar to
community policing, different North American agencies exercise ILP in a manner consistent
with their organization's mission and community needs – primarily a result of such a significant
variance on the requirements and priorities of fragmented American law enforcement agencies.
In the United States, there are over 17,000 different law enforcement agencies alone. For
example, many organizations are likely to interpret CompStat or hotspot policing as their ILP
practice. With minimal direction and increased demand for ILP, there are liable to be agencies
that refer to themselves as ‘intelligence-led,' but lack the functional capabilities that are required
actually to operate an intelligence-led approach (Carter & Philip, 2015). One of the big draws to
intelligence-led policing is the sharing of information with other law enforcement agencies.
Information, in the law enforcement world, is a sacred commodity meaning that if someone has
information that someone else does not, he or she hold some mystical power of knowing
something others do not. Ratcliffe (2016) talks about in his ILP experience is the very fact of the
volume of agencies. With over 17,000 agencies across the United States, how can we reasonably
expect that all these organizations can effectively and efficiently share data across such an
extensive network? Not only are we dealing with 17,000 agencies but there is also an estimated
800,000 men and woman working in the field.

30

Sander et al. (2015) found that although many agencies had adopted ILP, once examined
in greater detail; it becomes apparent that police services have translated it into something that
they require in the current climate of accountability. Contemporary police organizations are
facing terrible inner structural difficulties, the most distinct of their issues being how to defend
their claim to more and more of the tax payer's dollars (Sanders et al., 2015). As a result, ILP
appears to be used as a risk analysis tool for the allocation of resources. This use, as a risk
analysis tool, is not really what ILP was intended for however it appears as though it can be
useful for that type of analysis also. In today's day and age, there are so many people watching
and critiquing that law enforcement agencies feel the need to make use of a crime-fighting tool
as a must. This incorporation of crime science in policing is illustrative of the inclusion of
private sector performance indicators in policing, which are now managed by objectives. The
growing demand for technical efficiency and performance measures have not only transformed
police relations with their employers but, one could argue, have also shaped how police
personnel make sense of and enact police reform on the ground. By translating ILP, Canadian
police organizations have been able to redefine and restructure success within their services by
demonstrating their outputs without necessarily attending to the outcomes of their practices—
what Sheptycki (2013) refers to as the management mythology. As such, ILP has provided
“changed rhetoric of rationality for policing, particularly about the publicly stated goal of the
police: the efficient suppression of crime,” without altering the local and situational practices of
police (Innes, Fielding, & Cope, 2005).

31

Group Vulnerability
The topic of public satisfaction with police is significantly studied in North America. The
predominant focus has been on demographics such as race, age, gender, income, and education
(Cheng, 2015). Public satisfaction usually refers to an individual’s state of mind based on the
contacts he/she has had (Cao, 2015). The General Social Survey of Canada, O'Connor (2008),
found that members of visible minorities had lower levels of satisfaction then non-members of
visible minority groups. The research, conducted in Texas, found similarities to the Canadian
research regarding African American and Hispanics. In Canada, minorities also were more
likely to be critical of police (MacDonald, Stokes, Ridgeway, & Riley, 2007; Wu et al., 2009).
In the U.S. findings indicated that African Americans were more likely than Hispanics to be
critical of police given the rise in the Hispanic population in Texas and with that the hiring of
more Hispanic officers that also contributes to the changing demographics where Hispanics are
not so much a social minority.

The Neighborhood of Citizens
The research into public satisfaction not only highlights the contacts of the police and
citizen, but much attention is paid to the community from which the connection originates. The
study of Reisig and Park (2004), and Skogan (2005) determined that if one's neighborhood is
seen to have more crime, those people within that area view the police less favorably than those
in perceived "safer" neighborhoods. Fear of crime in communities is also related to negative
associations with police (Scarborough et al., 2010; Gill et al., 2005). There is also research
(Cullen & Levitt, 1999) that supports the issue of neighborhoods with more perceived crime
having less economic growth and urban development, therefore keeping the crime high and the

32

view of police lower. Crime has been found to be spatial in so far as it takes place in specific
areas such as urban neighborhoods (Price, 2016). If the regions are kept from growing, due to
crime, then it is likely they will remain with less favorable views of police.

Police Use of Force
Use of force is a state-sanctioned method of gaining and maintaining social control. It is
not unusual for citizens to express concerns when a citizen is injured by the police, regardless of
the situational circumstances. Police are more generally considered a public service regarding
public safety and protection. When force is used, police officers are often surrounded by
controversy, claims of unfair treatment, including expressions of systemic bias against a
community (Boivin & Obartel, 2017). The use of force is often perceived as a significant factor
in the relationship between the police and citizen. Much of the academic literature on the use of
force is focused on the characteristics of the immediate situation and of the individuals involved
(Boivin et al., 2017). The early ethnographic studies (Wilson, 1968; White, 1972; Brown, 1981;
and, Smith, 1986, cited in Boivin et al., 2017) suggested instead that police intervention should
be interpreted within its broader context including the area where it occurs and the organization
to which officers belong (Boivin et al., 2017). Bolger (2015) noted in his meta-analysis of the
correlates of police officer use-of-force decisions that studies that included community factors
were considerably fewer in number than those focused on individual or situational factors. These
are important factors as this speaks to the behavior of an individual, rather than ethnicity or
cultural background of an individual. Elsewhere, Klahm and Tillyer (2010), have briefly
discussed neighborhood characteristics as controls, rather than reviewing them as predictors, as
they did for the suspect.

33

Use of force in police and citizen encounters is probably the most impacting of all factors
regarding public satisfaction, trust, and confidence. The method of any coercive authority with
members of the public is perhaps not the most effective strategy for gaining citizen compliance
during a police-public encounter. Each encounter becomes an act of civic education whereby
individual police officers teach citizens about the nature of the legal authority of the state in
society (Mystrol, 2011). In assessing public satisfaction, two aspects of police officer behavior
within the context of face-to-face encounters with people are particularly important in shaping
citizen assessments of procedural justice and trust: the quality of officers’ decisions, and the
quality of officer treatment of citizens (Mystrol, 2011, Tyler & Huo, 2002). In a recent RCMP
(2016) national survey, the overall rating showed a general satisfaction of 86%. Although the
public is satisfied with police services overall, they have a low tolerance for police misconduct.
Therefore, when the police are involved in a situation wherein police officers injure a citizen, the
public expectations of what the police are supposed to do are violated (Kuhns & Knutson, 2010).
Opinions about police services come from the community as a whole, only a small portion of
society have direct contact with a police officer (Maguire & Johnson, 2010). What then are the
impacting factors that influence public opinions about the police in their communities when
citizens have not had any direct contact with a police service? Bridenball and Jesilow (2008)
suggest that a strong sense of inclusion and involvement in the political system play a key role.
The more a person has confidence in the government, the better their opinion of the police.

Race and Ethnicity:
In research by Cao and Wu (2017), they discovered that although confidence in police
does vary by race, it is only a matter of degrees. They go on to say that their research has found

34

race is not the most reliable predictor concerning confidence in police because when variables
such as police contacts, and concentrated disadvantage have controlled the issue of race is
weakened, and in some cases disappears (Cao & Wu, 2017). Future scholars should focus on
fairness and injustice rather than race (Cao & Wu, 2017). The argument being it would improve
the minority confidence in police which is to treat all people of racial and minority groups fairly
and equitably. Secondly, it forces the police and the people they police to come to terms and
have faith in the democratic system and reforms as a whole (Cao & Wu, 2017). Cao (2014),
analyzed the General Social Survey (GSS) in Canada and found that Aboriginal peoples and
visible minorities (Cao, 2011), tend to have a lower confidence level in the police, perhaps based
on the type of contacts they have experienced with the police.
Cochran and Warren (2011) researched how the race of the officer influences citizens
evaluation of the police. The primary question evaluated by Cochran and Warren (2011) was to
see if the combined effects of race, ethnicity, and gender, influence the public evaluation of the
police behavior for white versus minority officers. They found that black males and females
were more likely to evaluate the officer negatively if they were white. The finding was the same
even after controlling the reason for the stop (Cochran & Warren, 2011). However, if the officer
was a minority Cochran and Warren (2011) found no race or ethnicity effects as citizens
perceptions of the stop were based on the ‘reason' given by the officer. In essence, citizens found
perceived the legitimacy of the minority officer stop differently than the white officer's stop
(Cochran & Warren, 2011). In Canada, confidence in police did not vary by visible minority
status (Cotter, 2015). In fact, higher levels of confidence in the police were observed among
visible minorities, established immigrants, and recent immigrants

35

Tyler (2005) researched a group of New Yorkers and looked at two questions: is trust in
police related to public willingness to cooperate? Moreover, does the relationship of police
policies and practices relate to trust in the police? There were two types of trust considered in
this study, institutional trust, and motive-based trust Tyler (2005). What was discovered was that
both types of trust had an independent influence on cooperation, that both kinds of trust were
most significantly shaped by public evaluations of procedural fairness, and demographics (Tyler,
2005). Procedural fairness was found to receive support in both White and minority samples.
When it came to the public's willingness to cooperate, it was found that there was a significant
positive correlation between behavior being motivated by trust because it does, in fact, lead
people to work with the police (Tyler, 2005). Finally, Tyler (2005) found that police policies and
practices are vital to building and sustaining trust. These findings indicate that police can most
effectively develop and maintain the public trust through focused officer exercise in authority.
As we have seen, via racial profiling, if the public believes the police are abusing their power,
the public confidence and cooperation declines (Tyler, 2005).
Petrocelli et al. (2003) collected data from Richmond Virginia in 2000 during traffic
stops where officers were equipped with mobile computers collecting data on 4,782 stops from
January 17, 2000, to March 31, 2000. From this information, three hypotheses were made
consistent with conflict theory. Firstly, racial and socioeconomics will influence the traffic stops,
secondly, racial and socioeconomics will influence the amount of traffic stops that result in
searches, and finally, racial and socioeconomic will influence the number of summonses and
arrests (Petrocelli et al., 2003). Hypothesis one found that the main reason for traffic stops was
motivated by crime rates, not racial factors, secondly, stops that resulted in a search were higher
in neighborhoods with more blacks. However, that was related to crime rates more so than race.

36

Lastly, stops resulting summons and arrest found that in areas with more Blacks, stops were
involving summons and arrest were lower (Petrocelli et al., 2003).
Does police satisfaction vary depending race and cultural factors? As pointed out by
Thomas Gabor (1994), many people feel the very notion of collecting data based on these two
elements is problematic in and of itself. As an example, this data can lead to a crackdown on
specific minority groups by the police which can, in turn, create conflict between the groups and
police. It can also distort the actual contribution of different groups to the overall crime situation
due to a particular bias in the official crime data and misclassification of suspects by police.
Lastly, it might waste the justice systems time if race or ethnicity turns out to be an insignificant
correlation of crime, or because there appears to be nothing the justice system can do if these
factors are related to crime (Gabor, 1994). Gabor (1994) goes on to say that although these
concerns, on the surface appear legitimate they are never the less alarmist and paternalistic. The
public needs to be made aware of all the facts when public security is at the centre of the issue,
no matter whether it is politically correct or not.
Weitzer and Tuch (2005), discussed the idea that the safer one feels in their
neighborhood, the more satisfied they are with the police. The New York Police Departments
“Stop and Frisk” policy created a more significant safety barrier. This policy was designed in an
attempt to create a safer public environment. In their analysis, the crimes were found to be more
prevalent in ethnic minority neighborhoods, therefore creating the feeling, through stop and frisk,
that police had an agenda against those minorities. (Gelmam, Fagan, & Kiss, 2005). Hynds and
Murphy (2007) spoke about higher confidence in police when the public they served found that
police treated them with respect. In light of this finding, although a notion as old as time, perhaps
police need to explain themselves better when executing their duties. For example, in Canada,

37

statistics indicate that there is an over-representation of Aboriginals in some part of the justice
system (Brzozowski, Taylor-Butts, & Johnson, 2006). We know that Aboriginal people are seven
times more likely to be victims of homicide then non-aboriginal. Statistics also bear out that
Aboriginal people are ten times more likely to be accused of murder then non-Aboriginals, and
three times more likely to experience violence on the reserve than off the reserve. Twenty-one
percent (21%) of Aboriginals are reported to have suffered spousal assault or sexual assault as
opposed to 6 % of non-Aboriginals (Brzozowski et al., 2006). The type of police and citizen
contact within the First Nations community is demonstrated as punitive, thereby representing a
less than satisfactory image within that community.
The last group to be discussed in this paper can be viewed as somewhat of an anomaly
and unique to British Columbia. That is the middle to upper class South Asian community
currently baffling police with their brazen gang and gun violence in the Lower Mainland. In this
case, police are trying to build trust in a community that seems not to trust them. Bakshi (2002)
spoke of how the majority of this violence appears to be disproportionally attributed to the Sikh
population. Bakshi (2002), a Sikh himself, talked openly about the fact that boys are treated
much different than girls, and it is a culture that breeds bravado, often being raised in a
testosterone-fueled patriarchal home. With culture at the center of this issue as well, how do
police restore, or better yet, approach the problem of satisfaction or confidence in this
community
Gabor (2004), noted that there was an issue in the United States with profiling, a concept
wherein the police focus their attention on a particular cultural group by the culture represented
by that group. The 1999 Harris Study (cited in Gabor, 2004) discussed the issue of race and
profiling, citing a New Jersey study wherein over 42,000 vehicles were observed with virtually

38

an identical violation rate between blacks and whites, yet 35% of those stopped and 73% of those
arrested were blacks. The study concluded that the race of the occupants in those vehicles played
a notable role in the decision of the officer to arrest. Gabor (2012), called this a definite case of
racial profiling and discrimination as it represented members of a visible cultural group targeted
by police, and the police responses were more aggressive as although the violation rates were the
same, the odds of being arrested were significantly higher is the person was a black. Gabor
(2012) also urges caution, using Toronto Police Services (TPS) as an example, is when
accusations are found to be baseless. Gabor (2012) points to a study of 31gun homicides in
Toronto during 2003. This study found that 73% of the victims were Black (Marshall, 2004).
Also, 78% or 14 of 18 of those arrested for gun violence were Black (Fowlie, 2004). Although
Blacks make up 10% of the population of Toronto, they are enormously overrepresented in gun
homicides. The point Gabor (2012) makes here is that it is important how we interpret and
report findings. In the case of the Toronto Police, their tactics were initially labeled as racially
motivated. A closer look at those results however merely shows that a small group of the
population, African American, is involved in the majority of the issue, gun violence. Therefore,
understanding the underlying reason for the strategies police employ is essential. In this example,
Toronto Police focused on young African American men in Toronto. Their strategy was to target
the specific group they had identified as responsible for the issue. This approach, however,
became a problem for the department based on appearances. In short, Gabor (2012) takes issue
with failing to address the underlying issues why police concentrate their efforts in particular
minority communities labeling that action bigoted, when in fact, the added focus is based on
systemic analysis of the crime, intelligence gathering, and information gathered from the
community itself.

39

In essence, similar to the loose coupling theory which advocates that law enforcement
agencies be divided into two levels, allowing them to react rationally at one level (community
policing) while responding to uncertainty at another (ILP) (Thompson, 1967). These groups are
the superordinate or governing coalition, and the “boots on the ground” or work process group
(Ingersoll, 1993; Weick, 1969; Weick, 1976; Weick, 1982). The former contains leaders or
supervisors within an organization that is empowered with towing the company line by providing
guidance and maintaining consistency (Meyer & Rowan, 1977). The upper level, or police
managers, maintain legitimacy by cultivating and demonstrating department policies and
practices that indicate to the external environment they are aligned with field performance. In so
far as the manager level performs in a way satisfying the expectations of the external
circumstances. The external environment includes national counterparts, groups who can apply
pressure to an agency such as victim rights groups or advocates, and the media. The lower or
regular membership group is composed of institutional actors (e.g., uniformed police, detectives)
that are required to support the upper management direction for the organization. The
membership may work in a setting where their behavior may need adjustments from what is
necessary. Thus, institutional managers maintain some degree of liberty in how they perform
their duties. In short, the management group guides or establishes institutional practices, while
the regular members are required to subscribe to or implement those solicited adjustments. The
fact that the management and the regular membership levels are connected may be found in the
word “coupled,” while the fact these components have a degree of independence from each other
is located by the word “loosely” (Orton & Weick, 1990). All this to say that it is up to the
management of the individual detachment or agency as to how best to proceed for their area.

40

Again, this brings us back to the concept spoken of earlier that different communities have
different needs.
The community policing model could be utilized to focus on non-crime solving issues
such as community relations, police legitimacy and maintain an open dialogue with the citizens.
The ILP portion would be based on intelligence gathering from areas like crime analysts.
One key consideration for any researcher/practitioner project is whether the results are
seen to be a success. Boba (2010), described five principles associated with success for
researcher/practitioner partnerships. He indicated that there is a need for the partners to be
geographically proximate and the project must have financial support. Third, the researchers
need some experience with law enforcement. Fourth, the agency needs to demonstrate a
willingness to partner with outside individuals and lastly, trust must be developed between the
partners.

Conclusion:
Public opinion surveys reveal aspects of public satisfaction with police services that are
hard to ignore. The controversial aspects of public opinions regarding police services also
impact the processes that help to build the social and political institutions necessary for
democracy to thrive. Each of the necessary components of democracy perhaps begins with an
individual level of public agreement, necessary to enable citizens to cooperate with each other,
thereby building a collective identity and allowing citizens to pursue common goals. Common
characteristics of these elements such as confidence, trust, legitimacy, and fairness combine to
build on the complex nature of public satisfaction with government services.

41

Research suggests that public satisfaction is vital to building confidence and trust in
police services. Fairness in the treatment of citizens during police-citizen encounters is equally
essential and contributes to the public’s perception of satisfaction with their services. It is
suggested that when rules are made and implemented fairly, the governing authority can expect
more voluntary compliance. Research indicates that procedural fairness during encounters with
police officers might change people’s perception of the police, at least in the short term. The
evidence seems to indicate that the quality of police-citizen encounters, meaning fairness, is
essential in public satisfaction and that promoting fairness and respect is the procedurally correct
approach. The research is clear and suggests that procedural justice strengthens policecommunity relations by building people’s support for police through feelings of obligations to
cooperate with police. Legitimacy is fostered through judgments about interactions between
police and the community that are viewed as procedurally fair and that are consistent with
principles of law and justice. All of this contributes to the public’s satisfaction with police
services.
The argument for conflict theory is made by most groups who do not hold the majority of
power in their community. Findings indicate that, in this case, conflict may not necessarily break
down by culture or race, but more regarding identifying the citizens that have access to resources
or limited access.
The contribution of the critical factors relative to ideals of public satisfaction with police
services is varied. It is essential to understand that one of these factors alone has limited impact,
yet together there is a fuller reflection of where the overall satisfaction of the public in police
services emanates. That is not to say that the factors identified in this paper are the only factors
that contribute to the fullness of the definition as it relates to public satisfaction. More research is

42

required from a Canadian perspective that focuses on the overall population’s perspective on
public satisfaction.

43

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