Detroit Resident Perspectives of the Police: Implications for Crime Control

• In Event: WG-PLACE 3: Research on crime, place and time

Abstract

Most crime control strategies in the U.S. assume that people are deterred from lawbreaking for fear of sanctions and are motivated to comply with police to enhance their safety. Although these conceptualizations of policing in society are useful, the individual and communal circumstances that inform individuals' decisions to contact the police require attention. To shed light on the factors associated with individuals’ decisions to cooperate with the police, this study surveyed 844 residents in Detroit, Michigan on their personal and neighborhood characteristics as well as their perspectives on procedural justice and police legitimacy. The findings indicate that cooperation with the police is significantly associated with neighborhood satisfaction and police legitimacy and that these factors are more influential than residents’ valuation of procedural justice. Strategies to enhance residents’ sense of police legitimacy and neighborhood satisfaction are discussed to improve crime control efforts in Detroit.

Author

• Elizabeth Adams, Temple University