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Police and the Majority - The Neglect of the Obvious?

NCJ Number
92203
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 56 Issue: 4 Dated: (October-December 1983) Pages: 351-363
Author(s)
S Jones; M Levi
Date Published
1983
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The combined effects of the civil disturbances and public opinion surveys in Great Britain over the last few years have been to direct attention towards the undeniably urgent problem of police/ethnic relations in the belief that such crisis as does exist is confined to specific, easily identifiable, sections of society.
Abstract
Part of the defensive police strategies developed to deal with disorder may be attributed to the view that the localized nature of this dissent can be handled efficiently by crisis management techniques. However, results of a survey indicate that the public's satisfaction with the local police is based on the human quality of police-citizen interactions. Almost half of those who expressed dissatisfaction attributed their views to their own or knowledge of others' personalized experiences with the police. The public did not perceive 'effectiveness' and 'efficiency' as being the same, although police often see them as such. A total of 13 references are supplied. (Author summary modified)