The impacts of neighborhood context on residents’ satisfaction with police services in metropolitan Taipei

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add to the literature on Taiwanese policing in three regards: employing multiple measures of satisfaction with police services; including analysis of the effects of differing neighborhood contexts; and examining both individual and district-level measures simultaneously to deepen our understanding of influences on citizen satisfaction with police services. Design/methodology/approach Data for the study were obtained from a random-stratified sampling telephone survey of 1,806 residents in metropolitan Taipei, which is located in the Northern part of Taiwan Island, during May of 2014. Given the fact that these residents were nested in 41 districts in metropolitan Taipei, hierarchical linear modeling was employed to examine the effects of both individual and district-level factors on satisfaction with police services simultaneously. Findings Results indicate that, among neighborhood context variables, mean levels of victimization, fear of crime, and perceived disorder erode citizen satisfaction with police. In contrast, collective efficacy produces a positive effect on the perception of police performance after controlling for demographics. With respect to those district-level variables, citizen/police ratio, the total crime rate/100,000 habitants, and the average of household income significantly impact public assessment of police services. Originality/value Only limited empirical research has examined neighborhood context effects on residents’ satisfaction with policing services, and virtually no such research has been carried out by examining individual and contextual-level factors at play simultaneously in Taiwan. This research fills this gap.

Factors affecting crime, fear of crime and satisfaction with police: focusing on policing and the neighborhood context

“…The local crime environment can play an important role in shaping the attitudes of residents toward the police (De Angelis and Wolf, 2016). This claim is supported by many studies showing that crime rates are negatively associated with satisfaction with the police (Kelly and Swindell, 2002; Lai and Zhao, 2018; Reisig and Parks, 2000; Wu et al , 2009). In terms of disorder, a number of studies have shown that satisfaction with police was significantly lower in disordered areas (Dai and Jiang, 2016; Lai and Zhao, 2018; Reisig and Parks, 2000; Sprott and Doob, 2009).…”

“…This claim is supported by many studies showing that crime rates are negatively associated with satisfaction with the police (Kelly and Swindell, 2002; Lai and Zhao, 2018; Reisig and Parks, 2000; Wu et al , 2009). In terms of disorder, a number of studies have shown that satisfaction with police was significantly lower in disordered areas (Dai and Jiang, 2016; Lai and Zhao, 2018; Reisig and Parks, 2000; Sprott and Doob, 2009). In sum, residents feel that the police are responsible for the safety and quality of life in the community (Reisig and Parks, 2000), and satisfaction with the police may decrease if the police are unsuccessful in controlling crime and disorder (Bridenball and Jesilow, 2005).…”

“…These results indicate that residents living in areas where violent crimes occur are more likely to see the police responding to crimes immediately and actively, and this high level of visibility makes the police more trustworthy (Zahnow et al , 2017). Indeed, satisfaction with the police increased when the number of police officers was increased to improve the police response and visibility (Dukes et al , 2009; Hawdon and Ryan, 2003; Lai and Zhao, 2018; Winkel, 1986).…”

“…Over the past decades, many studies around the world have focused on the effects of community contexts on police performance (Brunton-Smith and Sturgis, 2011; Lai and Zhao, 2010, 2018; Reisig and Parks, 2000; Wu et al , 2009; Zhao et al , 2014). However, community contexts were mainly measured using subjective perceptions of respondents (De Angelis and Wolf, 2016), with objective measures used in only a few studies (Lai and Zhao, 2018; Reisig and Parks, 2000; Wu et al , 2009). In addition, the neighborhood context approach requires macro-level analysis by region; however, most of the existing studies use data from a limited number of regions (Reisig and Parks, 2000).…”

Policing and collective efficacy: A rapid evidence assessment

“…Trust was included as an independent variable in these studies, suggesting that trust in police leads to higher levels of collective efficacy. Studies that included trust as a dependent variable also tended to find positive associations between collective efficacy/informal social control and trust (Bradford et al, 2009;Jackson et al, 2013;Kirk and Papachristos, 2011;Kwak and McNeeley, 2019;Lai, 2016;Lai and Zhao, 2018;Maxson et al, 2003;Rodrigues, 2010), suggesting that the relationship between these variables may be bi-directional (although the cross-sectional nature of the data makes it impossible to be sure).…”