Police fairness and legitimacy across the post-communist divide in Europe

Abstract

In the present study, we compared two European regions with deeply contrasting policing traditions-post-communist countries and established democracies-to explore whether political history may have long-term consequences for police-public interactions. Using data from 26 countries that participated in the 2010 European Social Survey, we first measured and compared the prevalence of police-initiated contact and satisfaction with contact once it took place. We found that both tended to be higher in established democracies. Next, we contrasted the magnitude of the association between police contact and attitudes about police fairness and legitimacy between the two regions, finding consistently stronger associations in post-communist countries. Taken together, our results help expand procedural justice theory by demonstrating that incorporating history and context can enhance its ability to explain how interactions with police shape public opinion about law enforcement.

Police stops to reduce crime: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Moreover, this effect was similar in magnitude to that of the original specification ( g = −0.38, 95% CI [−0.59, −0.17]). Finally, one study measuring attitudes toward the police (Baćak & Apel, 2021), two studies measuring mental health issues (Baćak & Nowotny, 2020; Dennison & Finkeldey, 2021), and one study measuring self‐reported crime/delinquency (Lee et al, 2017) used measures of police stops that were limited to unfair, false, or unsatisfactory stop experiences. Given that these experiences may have separate impacts on effect sizes, we re‐estimated each model while excluding these studies.…”

“…Attitudes toward the police and self‐reported crime/delinquency were also measured using self‐report surveys and interviews. Common outcomes for attitudes toward the police included scaled or ordinal measures of police legitimacy (Baćak & Apel, 2021; Murray et al, 2021; Tyler et al, 2014), respect (Friedman et al, 2004; Harris & Jones, 2020; Singer, 2013), trust (Friedman et al, 2004; Murray et al, 2021; Singer, 2013), satisfaction (Wheelock et al, 2019), and overall negative attitudes (Rosenbaum et al, 2005; Swaner & Brisman, 2014). For the six studies measuring self‐reported crime/delinquency, these measures were operationalized as composite counts or scales that included multiple forms of adolescent or adult criminality (Slocum et al, 2016; Wiley & Esbensen, 2016; Wiley et al, 2013), drug use (Dennison & Finkeldey, 2021), or general non‐compliance with the law (Murray et al, 2021).…”

“…We synthesized these studies using Hedges' g effect sizes, which represents the standardized mean difference between groups (Hedges, 1981). In many cases, g values were calculated from standardized or unstandardized linear regression coefficients (Baćak & Apel, 2021; Rosenbaum et al, 2005; Slocum et al, 2016; Swaner & Brisman, 2014; Wheelock et al, 2019), or path coefficients from structural equation models (Lee et al, 2017; Murray et al, 2021). Other studies reported means and standard deviations (Wiley & Esbensen, 2016; Wiley et al, 2013), t ‐tests (Tyler et al, 2014), or ordinal frequency distributions from which g values could be calculated (Friedman et al, 2004).…”

“…Rooted in this is a deep-seated distrust of policing and a history of perceived oppression within high-crime minority communities (see . Depending on the nature of the interaction, individuals may feel that they are being stopped without proper cause and/or that their personal freedom is being unjustly restricted, leading to a reduction in attitudes favorable to the police (see Baćak & Apel, 2021;Harris & Jones, 2020;Tyler et al, 2014).…”

“…Rooted in this is a deep‐seated distrust of policing and a history of perceived oppression within high‐crime minority communities (see Braga et al, 2019). Depending on the nature of the interaction, individuals may feel that they are being stopped without proper cause and/or that their personal freedom is being unjustly restricted, leading to a reduction in attitudes favorable to the police (see Baćak & Apel, 2021; Harris & Jones, 2020; Tyler et al, 2014). For instance, research has suggested that in New York City, Black individuals are over six times more likely to be stopped by police than White individuals, and that the rate of success during these stops (operationalized as the rate of drug/weapon seizures or arrests) is often less than 3% for seizures and 7% for arrests (see Geller & Fagan, 2010; Gelman et al, 2007; Jones‐Brown et al, 2010).…”