factors that affect public perceptions
Various factors affect public perceptions. The first factor is a personal experience with the police. Many studies suggest individual opinions depend on how a person was treated in an encounter with the police, either reporting a case or being arrested. The people who had bad experiences with the police like excessive use of force and corruption issues mostly had a negative perception of the police. On the other hand, the people who were helped by police to get justice to perceive the police positively.
Second, law and order in neighbourhoods is a crucial factor in the public perception of police. If an area is insecure and the police are present, it usually leads to negative perceptions. Most people believe that insecurity is a result of police engagement in unethical practices like corruption. On the other hand, stabilized law and order in neighbourhoods contribute to positive perceptions as the public believe the police are doing their work. The third factor is the public and police contacts. The society with informal police contact has positive perceptions while the public with formal contacts with police has negative perceptions of the police. Casual contacts include the police participating in community-based activities like attending community meetings while official engagement includes police contact only when they are in the line of duty.
The coursebook established four categories of factors affecting police decision making, which are organizational, neighbourhood, officer and situational factors. Officer characteristics such as gender, education, experience, ambition and attitudes jeopardize an officer’s thinking. Police with high levels of education and experience are likely to make better and informed decisions and vice versa. Additionally, an officer’s gender and attitude towards a particular crime affect his or her decision making. For instance, ¸ female officer’s attitude on rape crimes makes them handle such cases with seriousness.
Organizational factors include bureaucratic structure, beat and scheduling. The police rank in the force is likely to affect their decision making. For instance, low-rank officers will make decisions that will be likely to be accepted by their superiors. Furthermore, the goals of the police department may also affect an officer’s decision making. For instance, there is a high probability of DEA argent not to treat a robbery case seriously. Third, neighbourhood factors like racial composition, heterogeneity, socioeconomic status crime rate determine an officer’s decision. Officers operating in neighbourhoods with many blacks are more likely to make many arrests compared to white communities. This is due to the belief that blacks engage in severe crimes than other races. Lastly, situational factors like a reason for arriving at the scene, suspect age, race and sex also affect decision making. The police may make adverse decisions when the suspect is a male and an African American due to their nature to resist arrests. In my opinion, I believe officer factors are more likely to influence their policing decisions.
Peacekeeping and maintaining are essential in the community. The police are responsible for peacekeeping and maintaining order in society. Peace is among necessities for the smooth running of society. It strengthens the bond between the government agencies, especially the police and the community. For instance, in crime-free areas, members of the public are more likely to report any suspicions. Second, peacekeeping and maintaining order boosts the security of an area which has an influence on businesses and general economic growth in a region. People are determined to put businesses in areas that have order and peace.
Peacekeeping and maintaining order prevents damages and deaths in society. Conflicts are characterized by damages to property and deaths. When an area is not orderly, high cases of theft and breakage into other people’s property such as homes and business are common. Also, due to fights and conflicts, the causes of deaths also increase. However, the presence of peace and order hinders such activities from occurring.