ETERMINANTS OF CONSTABLES ERCEPTIONS OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT ...criminology.research.southwales.ac.uk/media/files/documents/2012... · 10.1177/1098611104268106 POLICE QUARTERLY (Vol

10.1177/1098611104268106 POLICE QUARTERLY (Vol. X, No. X, Month Year)Bennett, Morabito / CONSTABLES’ PERCEPTIONS

DETERMINANTS OF CONSTABLES’PERCEPTIONS OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT

IN THREE DEVELOPING NATIONS

RICHARD R. BENNETT

MELISSA SCHAEFER MORABITOAmerican University

This research seeks to explore the factors that affect community support of thepolice as perceived by constables in three developing Caribbean nations:Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. Constables in these nationswere surveyed on a variety of law enforcement issues including their judg-ments about citizen support and cooperation for the activities necessary toproduce effective community policing. It is hypothesized that constables’per-ceptions of public support are determined by individual, situational, organi-zational, and national factors. A multivariate conceptual model is con-structed based on U.S. research and analyzed using regression analysis.Overall, the findings indicate that organizational and especially nationalfactors influence such perceptions. Within-nation analyses reveal interestingdifferences in the factors that influence whether a community is seen byofficers as supportive of their work.

Keywords: comparative policing; community policing; Caribbean; com-munity support; police legitimacy

Since the mid-1980s, community-oriented policing has emerged as themain challenger to the professional model of policing. A body of scholarly

An earlier draft was presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in2002. The authors would like to thank Sandra Baxter, Applied Research Analysts, James P. Lynch,American University, and an anonymous reviewer for their critical comments. The authors also wish tothank the commissioners of police who afforded access to the data and especially the constables whoso graciously gave of their time to respond to the survey as well as consenting to be observed andinterviewed.

POLICE QUARTERLY Vol. 6 No. X, Month 2004 1–32DOI: 10.1177/1098611104268106© 2004 Sage Publications

literature has evolved since then that can be broadly divided into threedomains: theoretical and conceptual development of the approach, imple-mentation and evaluation of community policing programs, and researchaddressing the factors that influence police officer beliefs, attitudes, andbehavior concerning community policing. Trojanowicz and Bucqueroux(1998), Lurigio and Skogan (1994), and Goldstein (1990) are among thescholars who have articulated elements of the approach and defined manyof its theoretical and conceptual foundations. Practitioners and researchershave explained and documented its implementation (cf. Eck & Spelman,1987), and scholars and researchers have attempted to more fully under-stand and evaluate it (cf. Cordner, 2001; Rosenbaum & Lurigio, 1994;Wilson & Bennett, 1994).

Research on officer attitudes toward community policing has focused onthe effects of police solidarity (Winfree, Bartku, & Seibel, 1996), officerstrain and frustration (Lord, 1996), and job satisfaction (Hoath, Schneider,& Starr, 1998; Paoline, Myers, & Worden, 2000). Researchers have alsoinvestigated the attitudes of the general community about the approach(Greene & Decker, 1989; Lasley, 1994).

Relatively little attention has been paid to the attitudes of front-line offi-cers toward the community in which such a program might be or is imple-mented. Because the community policing approach mandates that front-line officers shed their traditional roles (Lurigio & Skogan, 1994) and estab-lish meaningful partnerships with their community (Cordner, 2001), it isessential that research address those factors that inhibit or enhance the offi-cers’ willingness and ability to participate. One key factor is officers’ per-ceptions of citizen cooperation and support. Without the belief that theirefforts to reach out to the community will be reciprocated, line officers willnot be willing to shed the comfortable and traditional role of law enforcerfor the uncertain role of community police officer (Rosenbaum, Yeh, &Wilkinson, 1994).

This study proposes to fill a gap in the literature by investigating factorsthat affect an officer’s perception of community support and cooperation.Specifically, we will examine the individual, situational, organizational,and national factors that influence front-line officers to perceive citizens aswilling or reluctant to engage in effective and meaningful police/citizenpartnerships. The literature on community policing, and especially the por-tion that focuses on the perceptions of the rank-and-file, is employed to con-struct a conceptual model. The model is tested through comparativeresearch on the three Caribbean nations (Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad

2 POLICE QUARTERLY (Vol. X, No. X, Month Year)

and Tobago), each with different sociopolitical environments, but all reportthat they practice some form of community policing. Using these nations inthe analyses allows us to investigate not only the traditional law enforce-ment versus community partnership models but also the influence of politi-cal, social, and racial disparities and their effects on the legitimacy of thegovernment to rule and the police to maintain order.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Three themes dominate the community policing literature: conceptualdevelopment, program implementation, and assessment of factors thatinfluence officer behavior. To better understand the importance of officerperceptions within the context of community policing, these three researchareas will be briefly reviewed.

The theoretical and conceptual literature includes seminal works byGoldstein (1990), Greene and Mastrofski (1988), and Trojanowicz, Pol-lard, Colgan, and Harden (1986). These authors’ writings helped revolu-tionize policing by suggesting that policing and police strategies shouldinclude substantial input from the community. There are several overarch-ing themes within this body of work. First, relationships with the commu-nity must be redrawn with an emphasis not just on redefining police workbut also on enhancing outcomes. Second, traditional police agencies mustchange from the reactive role of law enforcement to a more inclusive,proactive approach.

By the late 1980s, cities such as Baltimore, MD, Newport News, VA,Madison, WI, and London, UK, were well on their way to implementingcommunity policing (Goldstein, 1990). As a result, the field was ready forthe next wave of research: program evaluation. Governmental agenciesfunded empirical evaluations of program implementation and maintenanceso communities could learn more about the concept through real-life exam-ples (Goldstein, 1990). The evaluations led to many macro-level assess-ments of the efficacy of the community policing approach (e.g., Kessler &Borella, 1997; Masterson & Stevens, 2001; Pate & Shtull, 1994; Winfree &Newbold, 1999; Wycoff & Skogan, 1994).

Although these studies have greatly informed our knowledge of the prac-tice and implementation of community policing, in many cases, they cannotprovide the specificity needed to understand which factors are influencingthe effectiveness of the community policing approach in different commu-nities. Accordingly, a third body of empirical literature grew focusing not

Bennett, Morabito / CONSTABLES’ PERCEPTIONS 3

on the implementation of the approach but on the officers responsible forthe activities essential to the success of community policing (Lord, 1996;Wilson & Bennett, 1994; Winfree et al., 1996; Yates & Pillai, 1996). Thisgrowing body of literature addresses the factors that influence the attitudesand behavior of officers toward community policing.

Researchers pursuing this topic have focused on three clusters of con-cepts to help explain police cognitions and behaviors: individual factors,situational factors, and organizational factors (cf. Bennett, 1997a; Brooks,2001; Worden, 1995). For the purposes of our discussion, individual factorscan be described as demographic characteristics of the officers that affecttheir attitudes and behaviors. Situational factors refer to the workplace envi-ronment and/or atmosphere that shapes an officer’s work-related attitudes.Organizational factors are characteristics of law enforcement agencies thatinfluence officers’ attitudes about community partnerships and citizen per-ceptions. In this study, we add the fourth factor of nation in the belief thatnational police agencies function in distinctive sociopolitical contexts. Thisallows for an examination of the role of national characteristics in determin-ing officer perceptions of community support and cooperation. Thevariables making up each set of factors are discussed next.

INDIVIDUAL FACTORS

Personal characteristics influence the perceptions of individuals across avariety of social and occupational settings (Hornstein, Callahan, Fisch, &Benedict, 1968; Newmann, Rutter, & Smith, 1989). These factors areimportant because they make up the framework from which individualsview their surroundings and evaluate their experiences. We would expectindividual factors to have a significant effect on the way officers view thecommunity support and cooperation. The individual factors included in themodel are gender, rank, tenure, and stress.

Gender

The workplace is stratified by gender. Although this phenomenon less-ens in degree with each succeeding generation, women are still perceived asthe nurturers and caregivers whereas men traditionally take on the moreassertive roles within the workplace. The police subculture is not immune tothese gender stereotypes (Heidensohn, 1992; Martin, 1980, 1989, 1990;Martin & Jurik, 1996). The role of policewoman was originally derivedfrom a social worker function with an emphasis on caring for inmates, lost


children, or at-risk youth (Walker, 1977). Policing agencies still regularlyrelegate women to juvenile affairs, handling sexual assaults, domestic vio-lence, and other “nurturing” activities (Britz, 1997). Community policingrequires many of the activities that have traditionally been assigned tofemale officers such as forming relationships with community membersand becoming involved in youth-related programs to be spread throughoutthe agency (Miller, 1999). Accordingly, we would expect female officers tomore readily embrace the community policing approach because it offersthe opportunity to thread these so-called caregiver activities throughout theagency. However, Paoline et al. (2000) and Flavin and Bennett (2001) foundthat gender did not have an effect on variation in attitudes.

Rank

The literature suggests that perceptions of community support increaseas one moves up through the police hierarchy (Lurigio & Skogan, 1994).Command and supervisory staff should feel most supported by the commu-nity whereas patrol officers should perceive less citizen support and cooper-ation (Lewis, Rosenberg, & Sigler, 1999). The negative attitudes of patrolofficers can be attributed, in part, to their greater exposure to individualsand groups in the field in times of crisis, whereas administrators have theopportunity to interact with these same people in less emotionally chargedsituations and places. In addition, administrators routinely interact withlaw-abiding citizens who are invested in the system whereas patrol officersmost often encounter people who are behaving criminally or those on themargins of mainstream society (Klinger, 1997). It is not surprising, there-fore, that command and supervisory staff would hold different opinionsconcerning citizens’ support and cooperation with the police.

Tenure

Tenure influences officer behavior and attitudes because it is related topolice socialization (Britz, 1997) and burnout (Schulz, Greenley, & Brown,1995) among other phenomena. Researchers estimate that police socializa-tion occurs within the first few months of becoming an officer (Barker,1999; Bennett, 1984; Crank, 1998), and with socialization into the policesubculture, officers become less likely to identify with the community inwhich they work. It also becomes more difficult for officers to form rela-tionships outside of the police culture (Britz, 1997; Crank, 1998). Althoughconsensus exists that tenure affects the extent of socialization, there is somedisagreement in the literature as to the direct effect of tenure on officers’


attitudes. Some evidence suggests that as officers become more experi-enced, their perceptions of citizen cooperation become more positive(Paoline et al., 2000). However, other researchers have found the relation-ship to be negative (Lewis et al., 1999) or curvilinear (Niederhoffer, 1967).Regardless of direction of the effect or its linearity, these researchers believethat tenure is an important explanatory variable and should be included in aresearch model.

Stress

Individuals in human services organizations who experience elevatedlevels of emotional stress are likely to employ a variety of coping mecha-nisms ranging from requesting transfers from stressful positions (cf. Miller,1999) to complete detachment from the public (Schulz et al., 1995). The lit-erature suggests that women are more likely to internalize stress and menare more apt to delegate stressful tasks (cf. Miller, 1999). However, neithermale nor female officers are immune to policing stressors (Lord, 1996;Russo, Engel, & Hatting, 1983). Officers who feel stressed may expresstheir frustration through a hostile demeanor and behavior. Accordingly,police officers experiencing stress may deflect those feelings onto commu-nity members. This negative presentation frames relations with the commu-nity thereby decreasing perceived levels of support by both parties that, inturn, decreases actual cooperation. Empirical evidence suggests that offi-cers’ perceptions of community support will vary based on their levels offrustration and strain (Yates & Pillai, 1996).

SITUATIONAL FACTORS

To accurately investigate officer perceptions, it is important to under-stand the situational context in which attitudes toward community policingare formed (Rosenbaum & Lurigio, 1994). Job activities and workplaceenvironment can influence an officer’s opinion of the community policingapproach in general and community support specifically. To learn moreabout the effect of situational factors, we will examine officers’ workload,activities, and the level of violent crime with which they must deal.

Workload

Workload can be an important determinant of occupational attitudes(Klinger, 1997). Officers who feel overworked will have only the most cur-sory encounters with ordinary citizens. Due to a lack of meaningful


interactions, these officers may not have the opportunity to receive feed-back from the community and may instead perceive hostility from the citi-zens due to the abbreviated time available to respond to the citizens’ prob-lems. Accordingly, we would expect that as workload increases, officerperceptions of community will become more negative.

Activities

Activities are another important factor in anticipating officer support forcommunity policing and positive perceptions of the community supportand cooperation (Winfree et al., 1996). Offices who believe in engaging incrime prevention activities and providing information to the public aremore likely to have a variety of interactions beyond those afforded bystrictly enforcing the law. By expanding the range of citizen encounters, thelikelihood of making positive connections with community membersincreases. We expect, therefore, that those officers who report engaging incommunity-oriented activity will perceive more community support fortheir work than officers who are not involved in such activities.

Violent Crime

Level of violent crime has not been investigated in U.S. studies of officerattitudes toward community policing, support, and cooperation. However,because developing nations have higher levels of violent crime than devel-oped nations (even the United States), the variable should be considered(Bennett, 1991; Bennett, Shield, & Daniels, 1997). Widespread violentcrime can be both psychologically and physically demanding on line offi-cers. Like teachers and social service employees, officers may becomedetached as a method of coping with the danger of their surroundings(Schulz et al., 1995). This coping mechanism will cause officers to be lessinvolved with the surrounding community and less likely to form positiverelationships with citizens. We posit that the more dangerous and violentthe workplace atmosphere, the more likely officers will perceivecommunity support to be low.

ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS

Organizational factors are included in this model because they are knownto be strong predictors of attitudes and behavior (Newmann et al., 1989;Worden, 1995). A police organization will view citizens as more coopera-tive if the infrastructure and resources are available to reach out and create


partnerships within the community. The organizational factors that we con-sider are supervision, training, and management priorities.

Supervision

Supervisor support and perceptions of fair treatment by superiors are keyto officer attitudes about the community (Hornstein et al., 1968; Lord,1996; Schulz et al., 1995). The supervisory role is fundamental in all humanservices organizations because supervisors set the tone of the day-to-daywork environment. Supervisors strongly influence staff cohesiveness, unitmorale, social support, and work productivity. In addition, employees whoexpect their supervisors to view their work positively are likely to usegreater autonomy in carrying out their assignments. The community polic-ing philosophy specifically calls for supervisors to act as coaches and men-tors rather than act in a purely administrative function (Cordner, 2001).Supervisors who are supportive and fair in their dealings with their subordi-nates free them to engage in behavior that might increase positive contactwith the community and subsequently affect their perceptions of its supportand cooperation.

Training

Training can have a positive effect on officer attitudes about the commu-nity they serve. Officers who receive good police training perceive them-selves to be more competent and are more likely to use good policing skillswithin the community (Rosenbaum et al., 1994). For training to be effec-tive, however, it not only must focus on the law of the land and the rules ofthe agency but must include learning the craft and how to effectively dealwith citizens and the community (Bayley & Bittner, 2001). Accordingly,we expect that effective training will be positively correlated with officers’perceptions of citizen cooperation and support.

Management Priorities

Management decisions can create an atmosphere conducive to or incom-patible with developing good community relationships. Performance eval-uations and promotion policies are key to influencing officers’ attitudes inthe field (Hoath et al., 1998; Winfree & Newbold, 1999). Officers whoexpect increased benefits and promotions to result from greater involve-ment within the community will be more apt to advocate for and carry outsuch activities. If police managers do not convey these priorities, line offi-cers may feel disconnected from the community and less inclined to see the


public as cooperative (Alpert & Moore, 2001). We posit that officers whoexpect their management to reward community-oriented performance willwork to form relationships with community members and organizationsand will therefore perceive greater support and cooperation.

NATION EFFECT

Although Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago share a colonialpast with Great Britain, their social and political cultures differ signifi-cantly. These differences are a product of their unique colonial histories andthe political and economic upheavals and realignments that occurred intheir postcolonial periods.1 The differences manifest themselves most nota-bly in the perceived legitimacy of their governments and police agencies bythe citizenry. These factors also affect the attitudes and perspectives of thepolice employed within each of these nations.

Legitimacy directly affects a police force’s ability to maintain order andenforce the law (Danns, 1982; Harriott, 2000; LaFree, 1998). Police legiti-macy rests on widespread perceptions that the police enforce laws equallyacross all segments of society, that internal corruption is absent, that theyuse minimal force to accomplish lawful tasks, and that they adhere to therule of law in all dealings with the public. Weak legitimacy reduces the citi-zenry’s willingness to become involved with the police and to cooperate intheir efforts to form meaningful partnerships. Without community support,many crimes are not reported and the few that are tend to be more difficult toinvestigate and resolve (Bennett & Wiegand, 1994). In addition, withoutcommunity support and involvement, the police must become more aggres-sive and forceful to maintain public order and security for the sitting gov-ernment. Using aggressive tactics may cause the public to become more dis-trustful of the public, thus creating a cycle of decreasing communitycooperation and support.

For many historical reasons, the level of police legitimacy differs acrossthe three nations as do the policing styles used to main order and enforce thelaw. In Jamaica, the police are besieged by warring factions of the nationalpolitical parties and view their function as an “occupying army” in the garri-son-like camps of the enemy (Harriott, 2000). Rarely do the citizens ofJamaican communities volunteer information about crime and violentgang/posse activity. The police feel forced to use an aggressive, confronta-tional style that is completely opposite from community-oriented policing.


One legacy of this is a police culture that functions as if permanently undersiege.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the police also suffer from weak legitimacy inthe eyes of the public. Changes of drug corruption and favoritism, buoyedby occasional court decisions finding police officials guilty, have led thepolice—like the government in general—to be labeled as indifferent,incompetent, and corrupt. As in Jamaica, the police receive little citizencooperation but this has evolved in Trinidad into a culture of alienation fromthe public. The police are demoralized, socially isolated, and antagonistictoward the public, and they provide little in the way of unsolicited policeservices.

In Barbados, the police are perceived as legitimate, competent, even-handed, and trustworthy. The citizens support and cooperate with the policeat much higher levels than in the other two nations, reducing the need for thepolice to act aggressively or antagonistically toward them to accomplishtheir mission. The interdependence between the police and policed has cre-ated a sense of organizational responsibility to the public that manifestsitself in professional services and innovative programs.

Because community policing requires community support and coopera-tion to function, the legitimacy of the police in the eyes of the public is ofparamount importance. Where the police see themselves as having stronglegitimacy as in Barbados, we would expect officers to view widespreadsupport for their community-oriented mission. Where the police see them-selves as having little legitimacy as in Jamaica and Trinidad, we wouldexpect them to regard the community as indifferent or even hostile. Wetherefore expect that national context will have significant effects on thedependent variable, perceived community support.

METHOD

The three nations were purposively selected based on two criteria. First,the nations’ colonial heritage had to be predominately English and theirpolice and criminal justice systems had to be modeled on the British sys-tem.2 This criterion was used to ensure that the formal systems of responsi-bility and accountability to the public were similar across the sample. Sec-ond, the nations’ police forces had to be large enough (at least 1,000 offi-cers) to exhibit variations in the individual, situational, and organizationalfactors already discussed. Although these sampling criteria excluded mostCaribbean nations that make up the Lesser Antilles, these three countries


significantly influence the other Caribbean nations in terms of politics,economics, and culture.

Data were collected from three sources in each country: survey data fromconstables and supervisors, direct observation of and interviews with con-stables and their supervisors,3 and archival data from police station dailydiaries. The first data collection effort was a survey of each nation’s consta-bles. Each nation’s sample was created by the same two-tier process. First,all police stations (i.e., a designated police district) located within the cor-porate limits of the nation’s capital city were selected. Second, every con-stable and his or her first-level supervisor assigned for duty during the weekthe survey was administered were asked to participate (e.g., those not onvacation, administrative leave, or sick leave). The questionnaire was admin-istered anonymously.4 The instrument took an average of 25 minutes tocomplete. The survey responses were used to measure the variables gender,rank, tenure, stress, activities, supervision, training, and managementpriorities, and the dependent variable, perceptions.

The number of constables and supervisors included in the sample andtheir response rate varied by nation. The response rate was high in all threenations: 79.9% in Trinidad and Tobago (N = 248), 75.7% in Jamaica (N =360), and 74.6% in Barbados (N = 136). The response rate for police sur-veys generally ranges from a low of about 17% (cf. Lord, 1996) to a high ofaround 85% (cf. Hoath et al., 1998). The high response rate obtained in thethree nations can be attributed, in part, to the personal rapport established bythe researcher during the observational segment of the study.

The second data collection effort was the collation of archival data fromeach station house surveyed during the survey administration period. Sta-tion houses in the three nations are required to log all constable activity, citi-zen complaints, and administrative and operational activities. The daily dia-ries, as they are called, are large ledgers (approximately 18 × 24 × 2 inchesin size) in which sequential accounts of police activity are recorded. Thecharge room constable is responsible for the entries, which are made in inkby hand. Only calls for service (CFS) recorded in the daily dairies werecoded for this study. A CFS is a report of either a citizen’s complaint(received by telephone or face-to-face contact at the station house) or apolice/citizen-related action taken by a constable while on the street andlater entered in the log.5 The CFS data were used to measure the variablesviolent crime and workload.

The third set of data was collected through observation of the activities ofthe constables and their immediate supervisors. This effort took place over a


9-month period during which patrol operations were directly observed foran average of 250 hours in each nation. Observations took place in the samedistrict stations where the surveys were administered and the CFSs col-lected. A typical observation period began 1 hour prior to the evening/nightshift change and ended approximately 1 hour after the day shift began.6 Theobservations captured interactions within the station houses among consta-bles and their senior officers, other constables, victims, complainants, andsuspects. In addition, many hours were spent observing constables on patrolinteracting among themselves and with citizens and suspects. During peri-ods of low activity (a frequent occurrence late at night), unstructured inter-views were held with constables and their supervisors. The observationaland interview data were used to enrich the researchers’ understanding ofhow the police were perceived and treated by the public they service (i.e.,the legitimacy they were accorded).

Formal access to the stations and constables was provided by theirrespective commissioners whose cooperation was gained relatively easily.Rapport with the constables/supervisors was also achieved quickly. Oncethe constables were told that the observer was a former police officer and hiscomments and actions reinforced this role, the observer was then treated asan “insider.” This created opportunities for the researcher to talk about andobserve informal personal and organizational behavior, including infrac-tions of agency policy and even minor law violations.

MEASUREMENT OF CONSTRUCTS

In the past, officers’ attitudes about community policing and supporthave been measured as their expectation concerning community relations(cf. Bennett & Wilson, 1994), support of and participation in communitypolicing activities (cf. Winfree et al., 1996; Yates & Pillai, 1996), stress(Lord, 1996), and job satisfaction (cf. Hoath et al., 1998; Winfree &Newbold, 1999). Community policing is a multifaceted approach requiringmany changes inside and outside a police force. The variety of indicatorsused in the criminal justice research literature reflects this complexity. Mostof the dependent variables previously used measure different aspects of thecommunity policing approach. Although each measure has value, nonefocused on our specific interest: officers’ perceptions of the communitysupport aspect of the community policing approach.

The dependent variable, perceptions of community support and coopera-tion (perceptions), was measured by a scale made up of five Likert-type


questions.7 The scale measured the perceived willingness of citizens to sup-ply information about criminal events, to identify problem areas or peoplein their community, and to come to the aid of a constable. The remainingtwo questions focused on perceptions of respect for the constable and his orher organization. The five items were factor analyzed to determine theirscalability and were found to produce a unidimensional scale that explained51% of the variance. The five-item scale produced a Cronbach’s alpha of.71. The scale was coded so that the higher the value, the more positive theperception of community support and cooperation.

The predictor variables included in the analysis model were heuristicallycombined into four explanatory clusters used to organize the literaturereview presented earlier. The individual factor cluster included the vari-ables of gender, rank, tenure, and stress, all measured in the survey. Genderwas measured as a nominal variable with men coded “1” and women coded“0.”8 Rank was measured by self-reported rank, with constables coded “1”and sergeants, corporals, station sergeants, and inspectors coded “0.” Ten-ure was measured as the number of years the constable had served on theforce and was constructed by subtracting the year the constable entered thepolice organization from the date of the survey’s administration. Finally,stress was measured by the summation of scores on two items tapping theconstable’s feeling of being subjected to the whims of the higher command.The two items were factor analyzed to determine their scalability and werefound to produce a unidimensional scale that explained 71% of the vari-ance. The scale produced a Cronbach’s alpha of .60. The scale was coded sothat the higher the value, the higher the level of constable stress.

Two of the three variables in the situational factors cluster were con-structed from the archival CFS data. The first, violent crime, was measuredas the proportion of CFSs relating to crimes against a person in each of the16 district stations in the three nations. The second variable, workload, wasa simple count of all CFSs made to the station house in a district divided bythe number of constables assigned to that district. Thus, this measurereflected the weekly magnitude of official work, on average, for each con-stable in the district. The third work environment variable, activities, wasconstructed from two items on the constables’ survey that measured thereported amount of time a constable spent in an average week on activitiesthat were community oriented (i.e., crime prevention and information giv-ing activities).9 The two items were factor analyzed to determine theirscalability and were found to produce a unidimensional scale that explained79% of the variance. The scale produced a Cronbach’s alpha of .65. The


scale was coded so that the higher the value, the greater the level ofcommunity-related police activities performed.

The organizational factors cluster included three measures of the organi-zational environment. Supervision was constructed as a scale based onthree items addressing the constables’ beliefs that supervisors were con-cerned for them personally and professionally and that they received effec-tive supervision. Factor analysis showed the scale to be unidimensional andaccounting for 71% of the variance. A Cronbach’s alpha of .79 wasobtained. The scale was scored such that the higher the score, the greater theperceived concern.

Training, the second variable in the cluster, was measured by a one-itemscale assessing the perceived adequacy of recruit training, the only trainingoffered to most constables during an average tenure of 30 years on the force.The variable was measured with a Likert-type scale that ranged from a valueof 1 to 5. The higher the value, the more the constable believed the trainingwas adequate.

The final variable in the cluster was the respondent’s perception of man-agement priorities. It was measured by another single Likert-type scale itemon the constable’s perception that management focused on good policing asa criterion for promotion. The scale ranged from 1 to 5 and was scored sothat the higher the value, the greater the perception that promotion wasbased on good police work.

FINDINGS

The analyses and findings are divided into two parts. In the first part, weassess the support for the model and in the second, we investigate variationsin the findings across the three Caribbean nations. Table 1 reports the meansand standard deviations of each of the 10 predictor variables in the modelplus the outcome variable, perceptions, overall and by nation. Overall, themajority of respondents in the three nations was men (87%) and constables(70%). The average length of service was 12 years. Unlike in the UnitedStates, where one retires after 20 to 25 years of service, retirement in theCaribbean is age-related and mandatory by rank: at age 60 for a constableand age 65 for high-level commanders.10 Thus, with 12 years of service, theaverage respondent was less than one third of the way through his or hercareer. Most of the police respondents in the three nations reported that theirjob was stressful (0 = 3.78 on a 1- to 5-point scale).



TABLE 1. Means and Standard Deviations of Variables in Perception Model Overall and byNation

Variable M SD

Individual factorsGender .870 .340

Barbados .93 .26Trinidad .92 .28Jamaica .82 .39

Rank .703 .457Barbados .787 .411Trinidad .815 .390Jamaica .594 .492

Tenure 12.249 8.625Barbados 13.037 7.566Trinidad 14.036 8.449Jamaica 10.719 8.862

Stress 3.780 1.030Barbados 3.350 1.150Trinidad 3.940 .960Jamaica 3.850 .99

Situational factorsViolent crime .217 .092

Barbados .120 .117Trinidad .184 .061Jamaica .277 .044

Workload 1.830 1.065Barbados 1.897 1.201Trinidad 2.74 .871Jamaica 1.179 .531

Activities 3.800 1.540Barbados 3.970 1.570Trinidad 3.540 1.440Jamaica 3.920 1.580

Organizational factorsSupervision 2.520 .980

Barbados 3.010 1.010Trinidad 2.190 .890Jamaica 2.550 .940

Training 2.950 1.200Barbados 2.990 1.150Trinidad 2.480 1.110Jamaica 3.270 1.170

Management priorities 2.600 1.280Barbados 2.880 1.230Trinidad 2.230 1.240Jamaica 2.740 1.290

Dependent variablePerceptions 2.298 .474

Barbados 2.684 .510Trinidad 2.138 .412Jamaica 2.263 .419

Note: Bolded data are grouped national data. N = 744.

For situational factors, it appears that, on average, the three nations expe-rience a higher proportion of violent to nonviolent crime than does theUnited States (approximately 22% of the crime is violent in nature asopposed to about 11% in the United States. It does, however, differ signifi-cantly across the nation). Across the three nations, constables report thatthey spend between 10% and 25% of their time on activities that are com-munity oriented, including crime prevention activities and information giv-ing (see note 10 for actual scale). Finally, organizational factors means thatall appear to fall in the middle of the spectrum (based on a 1 to 5 scale):supervision at 2.52, management priorities at 2.60, and training slightlyhigher at 2.95.

Table 2 presents the results of the regression of the 10 individual, situa-tional, and organizational predictor variables and the dummy variables fornation on level of perceived community support and cooperation for thethree nations combined. The model explains 27% of the variation and is sig-nificant beyond the .05 level (F = 23.605). However, only 4 of the 10 predic-tor variables and both of the nation dummy variables were statistically sig-nificant at the .05 or greater level. It is surprising that, contrary to ourpredictions, none of the situational variables evidenced a statistically orsubstantively significant relationship with perceptions. Thus, it appears thatthe constables’ perceptions of community support and cooperation wereindependent of their workload and the nature of that work. Thenonsignificance of these relationships could not be accounted for by amethodological artifact.11

The variable that evidenced the strongest relationship with perceptionswas the nation variable of Barbados (∃ = .209, t = 4.52). It was in the pre-dicted direction and suggests that national characteristics play a veryimportant role in shaping constables’ perceptions toward the public theyserve. The second most important contributor to the model was supervision(∃ = .172, t = 4.55). This finding is consistent with the community policingmodel that maintains that effective supervision and departmental supportenhance constables’ perceptions of the community and influence them toparticipate in community policing activities (Rosenbaum et al., 1994). Thisfinding suggests that when supervision is seen as supportive and fair, con-stables tend to view the public as more supportive of and cooperative withthem as well.

The third most important predictor in the model was the nation variableof Trinidad and Tobago (∃= –.165, t = –3.37). Whereas the effect was posi-tive for Barbados, it was negative for Trinidad, suggesting that being a


constable in that country lowers the perception of community support andcooperation. Because the Trinidadian police lacked legitimacy in the eyesof their public, it is not surprising that the police in turn perceive little sup-port or cooperation coming from them. Just the opposite was true for theconstables in Barbados, so the positive effect was expected.

Training also contributed significantly and positively to the constables’perceptions (∃ = .136, t = 3.95). Our prediction of this relationship wasbased on police research conducted in developed nations, so it appears thattraining has a similar effect in developing nations.

The fifth significant effect was produced by the relationship between ten-ure and perceptions (∃= .134, t = 2.82). Prior research findings in developednations disagree on whether tenure is positively or negatively related to per-ceptions of the community (cf. Lewis et al., 1999; Paoline et al., 2000).These differences could be due to the uniqueness of the various samplesemployed or the possibility that length of service might not be linearlyrelated to attitudes or beliefs such as the perception of community supportand cooperation (cf. Barker, 1999; Crank, 1998; Niederhoffer, 1967). Thus,we performed nonlinearity tests that indicated that the relationship was lin-ear but somewhat heteroscedastic with greater variation in perceptions for


TABLE 2. Regression Estimates, Standard Errors, and t Statistics for the Model’s VariablesRegressed on Perception

Variable OLS Estimate Standard Error Beta t Statistic

Individual factorsGender –.002 .046 –.001 –.105Rank .027 .049 .026 .557Tenure .007 .003 .134 2.817Stress –.047 .016 –.103 –3.036

Situational factorsViolent crime –.446 .230 –.087 –1.937Workload .033 .020 .074 1.668Activities –.004 .010 –.012 –.378

Organizational factorsSupervision .083 .018 .172 4.550Training .054 .014 .136 3.946Management priorities .013 .013 .035 1.019

National factorsBarbados .256 .057 .209 4.516Trinidad & Tobago –.166 .049 –.165 –3.372

Note: t values in bold are significant at or better than the .05 level. N = 744; R2adj = .267; standard error =

.406; F = 23.605; p < .000.

constables with less than 2 years of experience than among those withmore.12 The heteroscedasticity, however, was not so great as to violate theregression assumption of homoscedasticity.

The final significant effect and the weakest of the six was stress (∃ = –.103, t = –3.04). The relationship was in the predicted direction; that is, asstress increases, the perception of citizen support and cooperationdecreases.

In summary, the model developed from the findings of prior comparativeand U.S. samples did not explain the variation in constables’perceptions ofcommunity support and cooperation well: Of the 10 regressors drawn fromthe literature, only four were significant, although all were in the predicteddirection. It must be noted that a substantial amount of the variation in themodel was accounted for by the introduction of the nation dummy vari-ables. This finding suggests that in addition to modeling the relationshipusing developed nation factors, it is important to also model developingnation factors.

The relative explanatory weight of the three explanatory clusters wasdramatically different: Two of the clusters evidenced significant effects onperceptions whereas one did not. Two of the three organizational factorsand two of the four individual factors reached significance, whereas none ofthe three situational factors did so. The entire model explained 27% of thevariation in perceptions.

The second part of the analyses took advantage of the comparative natureof the data set and, following the prescription of Bayley (1985), investigatedvariations within and among the nations sampled. These analyses exploredtwo issues: the relative explanatory power of the model across national set-tings and the relative contributory effect of the predictors within eachnation. Based on the full regression analysis that combined the data from allthree nations, we expected that only the four non-nation variables thatreached significance in the combined model would do so again in the threenation-specific models.

Tables 1 and 3 and Figures 1 and 2 present the findings of the threenation-specific analyses. Table 1 and Figure 1 reveal that constable percep-tions of community support and cooperation varied among the nations stud-ied: Constables in Barbados perceived the greatest support and cooperation(0 = 2.68), whereas those in Trinidad perceived the least (0 = 2.14). Further,Table 1 shows that the three nations varied on a variety of predictor vari-ables as well. For instance, Jamaican constables dealt with almost twice theviolence (0 = .28) as did constables in Barbados (0 = .12), but their overall



TABLE 3. Regression Estimates, Standard Errors, and t Statistics for the Model’s VariablesRegressed on Perceptions Within Nations

Variable OLS Estimate Standard Error Beta t Statistic

Individual factorsGender

Barbados –.027 .170 –.014 –.157Trinidad –.004 .088 –.003 –.003Jamaica –.019 .056 –.017 –.333

RankBarbados .199 .133 .160 1.496Trinidad –.027 .082 –.026 –.333Jamaica .025 .074 .029 .335

TenureBarbados .004 .007 .063 .590Trinidad .007 .004 .143 1.783Jamaica .011 .004 .224 2.483

StressBarbados –.048 .037 –.109 –1.304Trinidad –.028 .026 –.065 –1.066Jamaica –.057 .023 –.134 –.2438

Situational factorsViolent crime

Barbados –.331 .749 –.072 –.416Trinidad .665 .541 .099 1.230Jamaica –.384 .577 –.040 –.500

WorkloadBarbados .079 .069 .186 1.146Trinidad –.052 .038 –.109 –1.363Jamaica .023 .046 .029 .500

ActivitiesBarbados –.002 .027 –.007 –.080Trinidad –.011 .017 –.038 –.646Jamaica –.003 .014 –.011 –.223

Organizational factorsSupervision

Barbados .114 .047 .227 2.434Trinidad .118 .031 .255 3.782Jamaica .037 .027 .083 1.363

TrainingBarbados .099 .037 .223 2.664Trinidad .053 .024 .143 2.257Jamaica .032 .019 .088 1.683

Management prioritiesBarbados .040 .038 .096 1.037Trinidad –.015 .020 –.045 –.773Jamaica .024 .018 .075 1.331

Note: t values in bold are significant at or better than the .05 level. Barbados: N = 136, R2adj = .196, stan-

dard error = .457, F = 4.297, p < .000; Trinidad: N = 248, R2adj = .149, standard error = .380, F = 5.321, p <

.000; Jamaica: N = 360, R2adj = .094, standard error = .400, F = 4.715, p < .000.

workload (0 = 1.18) was less than their colleagues in Barbados (0 = 1.90). Itis interesting that respondents in Jamaica and Barbados reported that theirlevel of community-related activities was similar (0 = 3.92 and 0 = 3.97,respectively), whereas those in Trinidad reported engaging in fewer of them(0 = 3.54).

Figure 1 shows the differences in perceptions of community supportamong the constables in the three nations. Scores on the dependent variableperceptions were collapsed into three categories (low support, medium sup-port, and high support) to simplify presentation of the findings. It is obviousthat the constables in Barbados perceive much more community supportand cooperation that the constables elsewhere.

Table 3 presents the regression findings for each of the three nations. Theperception model best fit the data from Barbados (R2

adj = .20) and least fit thedata from Jamaica (R2

adj = .09). Trinidad’s data fall between the two (R2adj =

.15). Different factors appear to account for the variation in each of thenational models. Jamaica was the only nation in which individual factorvariables were significantly related to constables’perceptions. Both stress(∃= –.134, t = –2.44) and tenure (∃= .224, t = 2.48) behaved in the predicteddirection in Jamaica. Constables reporting high levels of stress perceivedlower levels of community support and those with lengthier tenure per-ceived higher levels of community support. It appears that Jamaica’s pres-ence in the combined nation analysis is driving the significance of the indi-vidual factors’ effects.

Again, none of the situational factors achieved statistical significance inthe nation-specific models. Even with the high level of violence in Jamaica(0 = .28) and the very low level in Barbados (0 = .12), violent crime did nothave a significant effect. Similarly, even though the workload of constablesin Trinidad and Tobago was very high (0 = 2.74) as compared with that inBarbados (0 = 1.89), workload appeared to have no effect on perceptions.

In both Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, the variance explained in themodels is being driven by the variables of supervision and training. In bothnations, the relationships are positive and in the predicted direction. ForBarbados, the coefficients for both training and supervision are remarkablysimilar: ∃ = .223, t = 2.66 and ∃ = .227, t = 2.43, respectively. This was notfound for Trinidad and Tobago: ∃ = .143, t = 2.26 and ∃ = .255, t = 3.78,respectively. It is interesting that supervision is more important indetermining perceptions among constables in Trinidad (b = .118) than inBarbados (b = 114).13 Training, however, is more important in Barbados(b = .099) than in Trinidad and Tobago (b = .053). It appears that assessment



2.7

2.12.3

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Barbados Trinidad &Tobago

Jamaica

Nation

Mea

n L

evel

of S

up

po

rt

and

Co

op

erat

ion

FIGURE 2: Mean Level of Support and Cooperation by Nation

9

29

62

47

34

19

34

43

23

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

LowSupport

MediumSupport

HighSupport

Level of Support and Cooperation

Perc

ent R

espo

ndin

g

Barbados

Trinidad & Tobago

Jamaica

FIGURE 1: Perceived Level of Citizen Support and Cooperation

of training affects the constables’ perceptions in Barbados almost twice asmuch as in Trinidad and Tobago, whereas an assessment of supervision pro-duces a somewhat similar effect in both nations.

Figure 2 shows the relationship between nation and perceived level ofcommunity support. The relationship for Barbados is positive andmonotonic linear, ranging from 9% for the low support category to 29% forthe medium to 62% for the high level of support. Trinidad evidences theopposite: a negative monotonic linear relationship. Jamaica shows acurvilinear relationship.

In summary, constable perceptions of community support and coopera-tion are better explained by the nation in which the constable resides than inany one of the other 10 predictor variables employed in the model. Thesefindings suggest that (a) a model created employing developed nation pre-dictors does not efficiently explain the phenomenon in developing nations,(b) predictors, when analyzed one at a time, apply to both developed anddeveloping nations, but when analyzed simultaneously, the overall effectcreates the appearance that they do not (substantial differences in the meansof the predictors among nations are found.14 However, when analyzedsimultaneously, only 4 of the 10 developed nation predictors evidenced sig-nificance), or (c) the predictors equally apply, but when the research settingvaries, different predictors contribute to the variation explained (e.g., indi-vidual factors in Jamaica and organizational factors in Barbados and Trini-dad and Tobago). Based on prior research, we tend to believe that a combi-nation of the latter two explanations is the most viable (Bennett, 1997a;Bennett & Flavin, 1994; Bennett & Wiegand, 1994).

CONCLUSION

A conceptual model was developed to evaluate factors affecting consta-bles’ perceptions concerning citizen support and cooperation in Jamaica,Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. The model was based on research con-ceived and fielded in developed nations. Based on prior research, we identi-fied nine predictors that clustered into three conceptual areas: individualfactors, situational factors, and organizational factors. We added one pre-dictor measuring level of violent crime to the cluster of situational factorsand three nation dummy variables to capture the uniqueness of the nations.Data used to evaluate the model were obtained from a survey of constablesand their supervisors, police archival records, and through observations andinterviews. Two regression analyses were conducted: the first included the


full set of 10 predictors and nation dummy variables, and the secondincluded the 10 predictors for each nation’s data separately.

The findings indicate that the constables’perceptions of citizen coopera-tion and support are not affected by their workload nor the extent to whichtheir police work involves violent crime. In other words, the constables’perceptions of whether they can count on the community to be cooperativeand supportive of their police work are independent of their interactionswith the population segments that dictate the amount of work they must doand the amount of violence related to that work. These surprising findingsrun contrary to our most basic predictions and appear not to be a method-ological artifact. A possible explanation of their apparent anomaly could bethat the constables’ expectations concerning the community are shaped bytheir interactions with all the members of the community (i.e., citizens’feel-ings of police legitimacy) and not the specific segment of the populationthat dictates the amount of work they are required to do nor the violencerelated to that work.

The findings also indicate that national context explains the greatestamount of variance in perception, followed by the organizational contextand finally individual factors. Overall, the model explained about one quar-ter of the variance in perceptions.

Some surprising differences emerged when the model was tested withdata from each nation separately. The best predictors of police perceptionsin Barbados and Trinidad are organizational: effective supervision and ade-quacy of training. However, in Jamaica, only individual predictors pro-duced significant effects: tenure and level of stress. This could be due, inpart, to the organizational turmoil the Jamaican Constabulary was experi-encing during the data collection period.15 Even though the nations differedsubstantially on almost all of the predictor variables, few of the variablesachieved statistical significance in the nation-specific regression modelanalyses. The explanatory value of the predictors also differed a great deal.The data from Barbados fit best with the model, explaining 20% of the vari-ance. The data from Jamaica fit the model least, with only 9% of the vari-ance being explained. The data from Trinidad and Tobago fell in the middle,with 15% of the variance being explained.

If police agencies in developing nations are interested in building part-nerships with their citizens that will increase the force’s ability to maintainorder and solve crime, they must act to change their officer’s perceptions.This can be done, in part, through training and supervision (at least in agen-cies that are not in a state of severe internal turmoil and/or externally


questioned legitimacy). We found evidence in both types of analyses thattraining and supervision are crucial to officers’ perceptions of communitysupport and cooperation. Training can equip officers with the skills neces-sary to build partnerships with the community. Once officers feel welltrained and confident in their abilities, they will be able to use their newskills out on the street. These skills will not atrophy if they have supervisorswho reinforce their importance and value as part of good police work. Evenif the supervision is not focused specifically on partnership-building skills,there is evidence that officers who believe they have supportive supervisorsfeel more free to take risks in the area of community engagement andcollaboration (Winfree & Newbold, 1999).

Training and supervision alone, however, will not assure a successfulimplementation or maintenance of community policing. Our data show thatalthough training and supervision were the strongest of the 10 predictors inthe model, nation effects explained the greatest amount of variance. Itappears that constables’perceptions of the public’s cooperation and supportvary by the national contextual environment in which the constables mustwork. We suggest that this environment is determined, in large part, by theviews of the citizens concerning legitimacy of the government and thepolice. Citizens do not tend to support and cooperate with organizations thatthey believe lack a legitimate role in society (Bayley, 2002; Bennett, 2004).If the police cannot be trusted to behave in legitimate ways (e.g., treat all cit-izens fairly, enforce the law equally among all people, use minimal force toaccomplish lawful tasks, and not engage in corrupt activities), then citizenswill avoid contact with them and thus eliminate the possibility of buildingthe partnerships so crucial to the formation of community policing.

Changing the citizens’ view of police legitimacy is a daunting task andone that takes considerable resources and time. It involves three long-termenabling conditions on the strategic level and four continuous activities onthe tactical level. The existence of the enabling conditions and the ability toengage in tactical activities presupposes that the government of the nation isfunctionally democratic: There is a representative form of government witha separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial(Uildriks & van Reenen, 2003).

The first strategic enabling condition is that the police are subordinatedto the rule of law and realistically accountable to an independent judiciary.That is, police procedures are monitored by an independent judiciary, andfailure to abide by the rule of law engenders real sanction not only for theindividual officer involved but also the organization he or she represents.


The second condition entails a real separation between routine, daily policefunction and political partisanship. This is not to argue that the policeshould not function as the coercive arm of the government but rather toargue that partisanship should not play a role in the everyday routine activi-ties of the police. That is, the government creates the laws that the policemust enforce, but the government or factions within the government shouldnot dictate on whom and when the laws will be enforced. The final enablingcondition focuses on the leadership and management of the police organi-zation. This condition necessitates that police leadership and the manage-ment team maintain an open, involved, and self-critical style of administra-tion. In addition, this style of management must be receptive to the lawfulneeds of the entire community it serves.

The existence of these three enabling conditions creates an environmentwhere the four tactical activities to foster citizen perceptions of legitimacyin their police can be practiced unfettered. Because citizens’perceptions ofthe police are primarily formed by contact with or stories about the front-line officer, it is imperative that the patrol officers be supported by theiradministration in the implementation of them. First, the officers mustrespond to citizen complaints in a timely fashion without deference to time,location, socioeconomic status, race, gender, age, or national origin. Sec-ond, officers must employ the minimal amount of coercive force that is nec-essary to control the situation. Again, this must be without deference to theabove mentioned complainant or offender characteristics. Third, the offi-cers must handle the event in a fair and impartial manner while treating allparties with respect regardless of the complainant or offender characteris-tics. Fourth, the officers must attempt to resolve the event either by takinglegal, rational, and justifiable action or by referring the participants to theappropriate governmental or NGO agency. Needless to say, none of theabove actions can take place if the individual officers or agency are engag-ing in corrupt practices. Only by abiding by these tactics can a police forcebegin to gain the trust of the citizens they police and in doing so develop thelegitimacy needed to partner with them in a community policing effort.

A restriction in any of the enabling conditions (the rule of law, partisan-ship in police direction and control, and a closed, nonresponsive policeadministration) reduces the possibility of police legitimacy, citizen trust,and citizen cooperation with the police. This loss is vividly evident in bothJamaica and Trinidad. In Jamaica, the loss of trust and faith in the police toprotect and serve the citizens led to the rise of local, violent gangs that func-tion to protect the populations of their garrisons from outside dangers


including the police (Gunst, 1995; Harriott, 2000). In addition, local infor-mal community courts also exist in these communities because of the com-munities’ belief that they are denied justice in the nation’s formal courts.Finally, civil demonstrations and outcries from the press led to the commis-sioning of the Wolf Report (Wolf, 1993), which highlighted the crisis oflegitimacy in the Jamaican Constabulary Force.

In Trinidad and Tobago, the police fare no better (Hintzen, 1994). TheMuslimeen insurrection leading to the bombing and destruction of policeheadquarters (Deosaran, 1993) and the very acrimonious charge and inves-tigation of drug corruption within the ranks of the Trinidad and TobagoPolice Service by Scotland Yard (England) was a symptom of citizens’ lackof legitimacy and trust in their police.

Barbados, on the other hand, does not suffer from a similar lack of legiti-macy on either the governmental or police level (Duncan, 1994). It differsfrom the other two nations in that the government is not perceived as the pri-vate domain of any specific political or social group. Although there havebeen just as many changes in government in Barbados since independenceas Jamaica, the change in government is not perceived as a winner-take-allevent and the actions of the new government are viewed by the populace asbeing for and by the people. As an example, there is no “clientelism” driv-ing governments’ decisions as to who will benefit and who will suffer asthere is in Jamaica (Stone, 1985, 1986). Nor is there a similar level ofinequality between the rich and the poor or between the employed and theunemployed as found in Trinidad and Jamaica. In addition, and as a result ofthis, the police are not perceived as the private police of the political party inpower as they are in Jamaica but rather public servants who conduct theiractivities under the rule of law and with respect for all. The process bywhich legitimacy affects police/citizen partnerships then is in the formingof citizens’perceptions of the police, based on their observable actions, thatthey are either public servants or servants of the specific party in power.

Legitimacy, trust, and cooperation between citizens and the police arefurther complicated by the existence of extreme poverty, persistent crime,and social threat to the elites of the nations. Trinidad and especially Jamaicasuffer from extreme levels of inequality and blockage of economic opportu-nity. Part of the Trinidadian Muslimeen insurrection (Deosaran, 1993) andcountless demonstrations and conflicts between police and Jamaican citi-zens involving street vending or “haggling” (Gunst, 1995; Harriott, 2000;Headley, 1994) suggest that their economies are not viable for all of thenations’ citizens. In fact, a sizable portion of these nations’ crime and


control problems arise out of economically stifled areas inhabited by offi-cially unemployed squatters on government-owned land (areas of WestKingston in Jamaica and the Laventille area of Port of Spain, Trinidad).Although Barbados has poverty and crime, their levels are less and commu-nity response to them is not as volatile as seen in the other two nations.

Jamaican and Trinidadian police agencies were in a state of crisis and theresultant citizens’lack of legitimacy in and trust of their police created a sit-uation where community policing cannot flourish. Barbados, on the otherhand, does not suffer as much from this crisis in legitimacy. What differenti-ates Barbados from the other two might contain the answer as to what mustbe done to restore legitimacy and enable the police not only to protect andserve but to build partnerships with the citizens and their communities.

In Jamaica and Trinidad, solutions that just change the organizationalstructure of the police or increase the salary or educational attainment of theconstables will not show a positive effect on legitimacy and subsequently anincrease in police citizen partnerships. Nor will solutions be effective thatmandate community outreach or community-based police substations.What is needed is a rebuilding of the nations enabling conditions that allowfor the police to continuously and consistently implement the previouslymentioned four interactive activities.

The implications of the findings of this study for community policingresearch in the United States are simple and straightforward. Although thelarge body of program evaluations and case studies has contributed greatlyto our knowledge concerning community policing, additional research isneeded that considers variations in communities’ enabling conditions andpolice logistic activities and their relationship to legitimacy.16 Comparativestudies of departments and their community environments will do much toinform us about the barriers and enhancers to the implementation ofcommunity policing programs both here and abroad.

NOTES

1. For a more complete discussion of the political and social structure of these nations andthe Caribbean in general, see Edie (1994).

2. All three have similar parliamentary forms of government, and their justice systemsrecognize the supremacy of the United Kingdom’s Privy Council as the ultimate court ofappeals.

3. Studies of the community policing approach share methodological similarities. Withonly a few exceptions, community policing studies are not comparative either within a police


department or across different departments (Hoath et al., 1998; Lewis et al., 1999; Wilson &Bennett, 1994). The majority of the literature also makes use of survey methodology (Hoathet al., 1998; Lord, 1996; Paoline et al., 2000; Yates & Pillai, 1996). Studies using this designvary widely in their response rate: from 17% to 85% (cf. Hoath et al., 1998; Lord, 1996).

4. For a more in-depth discussion of the administration of the survey, see Bennett(1997b).

5. For a more in-depth discussion of the collection and use of calls for service data, seeBennett and Schmitt (2002).

6. The length of the evening/night shift varied by nation: In Barbados, the night shiftbegan at 3 p.m. and ended at 10 p.m.; in Trinidad and Tobago, it began at 6 p.m. and ended at 8a.m.; and in Jamaica, it began at 3 p.m. and ended at 11 p.m. or 12 a.m., depending on thestation.

7. The five questions that make up the scale are as follows:

1. The average citizen is willing to give constables information about a crime that took placenearby.

2. The average citizen is willing to give constables general information, such as the names oftroublesome juveniles in the area.

3. The average citizen would come to the aid of a constable who is in danger of bodily harm.4. The average citizen shows respect to a constable and his job.5. Overall, how do you think the public rates the (RBPF/TTPS/JCF)?

The response categories for questions 1 to 4 were all the time, most of the time, some of thetime, and none of the time. Question 5 responses ranged from 1 to 5, where 1 = very poor(force/service) and 5 = very good (force/service).

8. Thirteen percent of the sample were female. On average, across the three nations, thesefigures are slightly higher than those for the United States, where women occupy between8% and 10% of all sworn state and local law enforcement positions in 1993 (Bureau of Jus-tice Statistics, 1995). In 1997, women made up 11.6% of all sworn law enforcement posi-tions in the United States (National Center for Women and Policing, 1998).

9. A 1 to 6 scale was used to measure amount of time spent in the various activities: 1 = notime, 2 = less than 5%, 3 = between 5% and 10%, 4 = between 11% and 25%, 5 = between26% and 50%, and 6 = more than 50%.

10. A constable can apply for an early retirement at the age of 55 but must retire at 60.11. The lack of effect of either variable cannot be explained by collinearity between the

two variables. The possibility existed because the numerator of one variable was also thedenominator of the other. However, an analysis showed only a slight lack of collinearity (tol-erance = .501 for workload, and tolerance = .493 for criminal violence).

12. The details on this test will be supplied on request to the senior author.13. The nonstandardized OLS estimate (b) is used here because we are comparing across

samples rather than within one.14. F tests show that the nations differ on almost all predictor variables. Details will be

supplied on request to the senior author.15. For a detailed discussion of the police organizational turmoil in Jamaica, see Bennett

(1997a).16. Researchers suggest that departmental, community, and national differences can

affect the ratio of law enforcement to service-oriented activities engaged in by police agen-cies (cf. Bayley, 1985; Cordner, 2001). Our findings also suggest that future research should


include consideration of the sociopolitical context in which the officers and agencies oper-ate. Our findings specifically suggest that the construct of governmental and police legiti-macy be included in future modeling efforts. However, the concept of legitimacy should bedecomposed into its various measurable dimensions and the resulting variables be placed inthe analysis model.

REFERENCES

Alpert, G. P., & Moore, M. H. (2001). Measuring police performance in the new paradigm ofpolicing. In R. Dunham & G. Alpert (Eds.), Critical issues in policing: Contemporaryissues (pp. 238-254). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Barker, J. C. (1999). Danger, duty and disillusion: The worldview of Los Angeles police offi-cers. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Bayley, D. H. (1985). Patterns of policing: A comparative international analysis. NewBrunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Bayley, D. H. (2002). Democratizing the police abroad: What to do and how to do it. Wash-ington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

Bayley, D. H., & Bittner, E. (2001). Learning the skills of policing. In R. Dunham & G.Alpert (Eds.), Critical issues in policing: Contemporary issues (pp. 82-106). ProspectHeights, IL: Waveland Press.

Bennett, R. R. (1984). Becoming blue: A longitudinal study of police recruit socialization.Journal of Police Science and Administration, 12, 47-58.

Bennett, R. R. (1991). Development and crime: A cross-national, time-series analysis ofcompeting models. Sociological Quarterly, 32(3), 342-363.

Bennett, R. R. (1997a). The determinants of job satisfaction among constables: A compara-tive study of three developing nations. Justice Quarterly, 14, 295-323.

Bennett, R. R. (1997b). Excessive force: A comparative study of police in the Caribbean.Justice Quarterly, 14(4), 651-686.

Bennett, R. R. (2004). Calling for service: Mobilization of the police across socio-culturalenvironments. International Journal of Police Research and Practice, 5, 27-44.

Bennett, R. R., & Flavin, J. M. (1994). Determinants of fear of crime: The effect of culturalsetting. Justice Quarterly, 11, 357-381.

Bennett, R. R., & Schmitt, E. (2002). The effect of work environment on levels of police cyn-icism: A comparative study. Police Quarterly, 5, 493-522.

Bennett, R. R., Shield, W., & Daniels, B. (1997). Crime and development in the Caribbean:An investigation of traditional explanatory models. Caribbean Journal of Criminologyand Social Psychology, 2(2), 1-35.

Bennett, R. R., & Wiegand, B. (1994). Observations on crime reporting in a developingnation. Criminology, 32, 135-148.

Britz, M. (1997). The police subculture and occupational socialization: Exploring individualand demographic characteristics. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 21(2), 127-146.

Brooks, L. W. (2001). Police discretionary behavior: A study of style. In R. Dunham & G.Alpert (Eds.), Critical issues in policing: Contemporary issues (pp. 117-131). ProspectHeights, IL: Waveland Press.


Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1995). Law enforcement management and administrative sta-tistics, 1993: Data for individual state and local agencies with 100 or more officers.Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Cordner, G. W. (2001). Community policing: Elements and effects. In R. Dunham & G.Alpert (Eds.), Critical issues in policing: Contemporary issues (pp. 493-510). ProspectHeights, IL: Waveland Press.

Crank, J. P. (1998). Understanding police culture. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing.Danns, G. K. (1982). Domination and power in Guyana. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction

Books.Deosaran, R. (1993). A society under siege: A study of political confusion and legal mysti-

cism. Trinidad, WI: The McAl Psychological Research Institute.Duncan, N. (1994). Barbados: Democracy at the crossroads. In C. J. Edie (Ed.), Democracy

in the Caribbean (pp. 75-91). Westport, CT: Praeger.Eck, J., & Spelman, W. (1987). Problem solving: Problem-oriented policing in Newport

News. Washington, DC: Police Executive Forum.Edie, C. J. (1994). Democracy in the Caribbean. Westport, CT: Praeger.Flavin, J., & Bennett, R. R. (2001). Police work in the Caribbean: The influence of gender

and nation. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management,24(1), 56-87.

Goldstein, H. (1990). Problem oriented policing. New York: McGraw-Hill.Greene, J., & Decker, S. (1989). Police and community perceptions of the community role in

policing: The Philadelphia experiment. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 28(2), 105-123.

Greene, J., & Mastrofski, S. (1988). Community policing: Rhetoric or reality. New York:Praeger.

Gunst, L. (1995). Born fi’ dead. New York: Henry Holt.Harriott, A. (2000). Police and crime control in Jamaica: Problems of reforming ex-colonial

constabularies. Jamaica: University of West Indies Press.Headley, B. (1994). The Jamaican crime scene: A perspective. Mandeville, Jamaica: Eureka

Press.Heidensohn, F. (1992). Women in control? The role of women in law enforcement. Oxford:

Clarendon Press.Hintzen, P. C. (1994). Trinidad and Tobago: Democracy, nationalism, and the construction

of racial identity. In C. J. Edie (Ed.), Democracy in the Caribbean (pp. 59-74). Westport,CT: Praeger.

Hoath, D., Schneider, F., & Starr, M. (1998). Police job satisfaction as a function of careerorientation and position tenure: Implications for selection and community policing.Journal of Community Policing, 26(4), 337-347.

Hornstein, H., Callahan, D. M., Fisch, E., & Benedict, A. (1968). Influence and satisfactionin organizations: A replication. Sociology of Education, 41(4), 380-389.

Kessler, D., & Borella, D. (1997). Taking back Druid Hills: An evaluation of a communitypolicing effort in Birmingham, Alabama. Law & Policy, 9(1), 95-113.

Klinger, D. (1997). The negotiated order of patrol work: An ecological theory of policeresponse to deviance. Criminology, 35, 277-306.

LaFree, G. (1998). Losing legitimacy. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.


Lasley, J. R. (1994). The impact of the Rodney King incident on citizen attitudes towardpolice. Policing and Society, 3(4), 245-255.

Lewis, S., Rosenberg, H., & Sigler, R. (1999). Acceptance of community policing amongpolice officers and police administrators. Policing: An International Journal of PoliceStrategies and Management, 22, 567-588.

Lord, V. (1996). An impact of community policing: Reported stressors, social support, andstrain among police officers in a changing police department. Journal of Criminal Jus-tice, 24, 503-522.

Lurigio, A., & Skogan, W. G. (1994). Winning the hearts and minds of police officers: Anassessment of staff perceptions of community policing in Chicago. Crime and Delin-quency, 40(3), 315-330.

Martin, S. E. (1980). Breaking and entering: Policewomen on patrol. Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press.

Martin, S. E. (1989). Women on the move? A report on the status of women in policing.Women and Criminal Justice, 1, 21-40.

Martin, S. E. (1990). On the move: The status of women in policing. Washington, DC: PoliceFoundation.

Martin, S. E., & Jurik, N. C. (1996). Doing justice, doing gender. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Masterson, M., & Stevens, S. (2001). Madison speaks up: Measuring community policing

performance. Law and Order, 49, 98-100.Miller, S. (1999). Gender and community policing: Walking the talk. Boston: Northeastern

University Press.National Center for Women and Policing. (1998). Equality denied: The status of women in

policing. Washington, DC: Author.Newmann, F., Rutter, R., & Smith, M. (1989). Organizational factors that affect school sense

of efficacy, community and expectations. Sociology of Education, 62, 221-238.Niederhoffer, A. (1967). Behind the shield: The police in urban society. Garden City, NY:

Doubleday & Company.Paoline, E., Myers, S., & Worden, R. (2000). Police culture, individualism, and community

policing, evidence from two police departments. Justice Quarterly, 17, 575-605.Pate, A., & Shtull, P. (1994). Community policing grows in Brooklyn: An inside view of the

New York City police department’s model precinct. Crime and Delinquency, 40, 384-410.

Rosenbaum, D. P., & Lurigio, A. (1994). An inside look at community policing reform: Defi-nitions, organizational changes and evaluation findings. Crime and Delinquency, 40(3),299-314.

Rosenbaum, D., Yeh, S., & Wilkinson, D. (1994). Impact of community policing on policepersonnel: A quasi-experimental test. Crime and Delinquency, 40(33), 1-35.

Russo, P., Engel, A., & Hatting, S. (1983). Police and occupational stress: An empiricalinvestigation. In R. R. Bennett (Ed.), Police at work (pp. 89-106). Beverly Hills, CA:Sage.

Schulz, R., Greenley, J., & Brown, R. (1995). Organization, management, and client effectson staff burnout. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36, 333-345.

Stone, C. (1985). Democracy and clientelism in Jamaica. New Brunswick, NJ: TransactionBooks.


Stone, C. (1986). Power in the Caribbean basin. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study ofHuman Issues.

Trojanowicz, R., & Bucqueroux, B. (1998). Community policing: How to get started.Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing.

Trojanowicz, R., Pollard, B., Colgan, F., & Harden, H. (1986). Community policing pro-grams: A twenty year view. East Lansing: Michigan State University.

Uildriks, N., & van Reenen, P. (2003). Policing post-communist societies: Police-public vio-lence, democratic policing and human rights. Antwerp: Intersentia.

Walker, S. (1977). A critical history of police reform. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Wilson, D., & Bennett, S. (1994). Officers’ response to community policing: Variation on a

theme. Crime and Delinquency, 40, 354-370.Winfree, T., Jr., Bartku, G., & Seibel, G. (1996). Support for community policing versus tra-

ditional policing among nonmetropolitan police officers: A survey of four New Mexicopolice departments. American Journal of Police, 15, 23-50.

Winfree, T., Jr., & Newbold, G. (1999). Community policing and the New Zealand police:Correlates of attitudes toward the work world in a community oriented national policeforce. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 22, 589-617.

Wolf, L. (1993). Report of the national task force on crime. Kingston, Jamaica: GovernmentPrinting Office.

Worden, R. (1995). The “causes” of police brutality: Theory and evidence on police use offorce. In W. A. Geller & H. Toch (Eds.), And justice for all: Understanding and control-ling police abuse of force (pp. 31-60). Washington, DC: Police Executive ResearchForum.

Wycoff, M. A., & Skogan, W. G. (1994). The effect of community policing managementstyle on officers’ attitudes. Crime and Delinquency, 40, 371-383.

Yates, D., & Pillai, V. (1996). Attitudes toward community policing: A causal analysis.Social Science Journal, 33, 193-209.

Richard R. Bennett is a professor of justice at the American University, Wash-ington, D.C. He has published extensively in the area of cross-national corre-lates of crime and police cognitions and behaviors and is currently research-ing crime and police issues in developing nations. He has served as a policeofficer, criminal investigator, and criminal justice consultant to both nationaland international government commissions, universities, and contractresearch organizations. He is currently completing a book on policing in theCaribbean.

Melissa Schaefer Morabito is a doctoral candidate in the Justice, Law andSociety program at American University. Her research interests include therelationship between community health and policing, community percep-tions of the seriousness of crime, and the involvement of individuals withmental illnesses with the criminal justice system. She is currently working onresearch on the correlates of cross-national crime.


Documents

ETERMINANTS OF CONSTABLES ERCEPTIONS OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT ...criminology.research.southwales.ac.uk/media/files/documents/2012... · 10.1177/1098611104268106 POLICE QUARTERLY (Vol