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Policing by consent: and what about those who distrust the police? Key findings from two national surveys.
Fri, September 5, 6:30 to 7:45pm, Communications Building (CN), CN 2112Abstract
The concept of "policing by consent," as discussed by Brogden (2018), is fundamental in contemporary democratic policing systems, whether they follow the British-inspired "Peelian" tradition or the more centralized European continental tradition (Finnane, 2016). As such, this concept rests on the highest possible degree of public trust in the police, a feature regularly measured through censuses and surveys. Quite a remarkable trend appears from the analysis of survey and census results conducted in democracies for probably as long as these measures have been taken (Bell, 1079): around 80% of respondents in democratic societies express trust in the police, while 20% do not.
Despite these figures, many police agencies and governmental administrations focus on the majority's trust, often overlooking the significant minority who lack confidence in the police. This oversight raises important questions: Who are the individuals that do not trust the police? What are their reasons? Is there a correlation between sociodemographic characteristics and levels of trust, or do more complex social and political perceptions of the police play a role?
To address these questions, a comparative research study was conducted using independent population surveys from Canada (2022) and France (2023). This study aims to identify the common factors influencing the opinions of the 20% who do not trust the police. The research presents a quantitative analysis of the impact of traditional sociodemographic variables versus sociopolitical constructs regarding the police and its societal role. The findings highlight the relative importance of these constructs among the various explanatory variables and suggest that they should be considered in future policies aimed at improving the relationship between different segments of the national population and police agencies.