Differential perceptions of neighborhood problems by police and residents: The impact of neighborhood‐level characteristics
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine differential perceptions of neighborhood problems by the police and residents.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses interview and survey data collected from 50 neighborhoods a mid‐western city to assess whether police officers and citizens differ in their perceptions of neighborhood disorder, drug‐gang, and property crime problems. Multivariate regressions were conducted to examine the effects of neighborhood structural characteristics, social organization, perceptions of the legitimacy of local authorities, and actual crime rates on police's and citizens' perceptions of neighborhood problems.
Findings
Police officers rate neighborhood problems more seriously than do local residents. Neighborhood structural characteristics and perceptions of the legitimacy of local authorities significantly affect variation in perceptions of neighborhood problems by citizens and police. Actual property crime rates influence police perceptions of disorder and property crime problems.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should continue to explore the factors that contribute to perceptual differences between citizens and police officers. Research should also pay more attention to variables such as informal control, social capital, and collective efficacy. More research efforts should be devoted to explore how variation in officers' perceptions of neighborhood problems affects their behavior toward local residents.
Originality/value
The study incorporates neighborhood contexts in its analysis and tests both officers' and citizens' perceptions of neighborhood problems simultaneously, which have rarely been done in previous research.
Keywords
Citation
Sun, I.Y. and Triplett, R.A. (2008), "Differential perceptions of neighborhood problems by police and residents: The impact of neighborhood‐level characteristics", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 435-455. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510810895795
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited