NCJ Number
82597
Journal
Kriminologisches Journal Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Dated: (1980) Pages: 257-270
Date Published
1980
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The results of a German survey of police trainees about the relationship between the police and the public are compared to the results of earlier surveys of police trainees and private individuals.
Abstract
The data for the most recent survey of police trainees were collected from 1127 police recruits at a police training institute in North Rhine-Westphalia during March 1978. In general, earlier studies indicate that the public regards the police as a necessary evil but wants to have as little to do with them as possible. Expanding on those findings, the present study suggests that police trainees strive to fill the role of the police officer as friend and helper but that their experiences reveal how little this view conforms to the public attitude. At the same time, police recruits are conscious that they represent the interests of the state and that the public is reticent to enter into a confrontation with that power. Recruits deny this discrepancy in their attitudes, which increases the potential for conflict. Police are aware that the fear of crime is not as great as the media would lead the public to believe, but they overestimate the public interest in pursuing prosecutions while underestimating the public need for security. Overall, recruits express dissatisfaction with their profession, especially because they fear unpleasant conflicts with the public. This apprehension is apparently connected to the increasing frequency of contact between the police and the public in situations of social conflict. However, the negative perception of police officers is deemed likely to persist as long as the police derive their legitimacy exclusively from politicians and the criminal justice system. Notes, tables, and a 23-item bibliography are supplied.