Determinants of Constables’ Perceptions of Community Support in Three Developing Nations

• Author: Richard R. Bennett,Melissa Schaefer Morabito
• Published date: 01 June 2006
• Date: 01 June 2006
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1098611104268106
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/1098611104268106POLICE QUARTERLY (Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2006)Bennett, Morabito / CONSTABLES’PERCEPTIONS

DETERMINANTS OF CONSTABLES’

PERCEPTIONS OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT

IN THREE DEVELOPING NATIONS

RICHARD R. BENNETT

MELISSA SCHAEFER MORABITO

American University

This researchseeks to explore the factors that affect community support of the

police as perceived by constables in three developing Caribbean nations:

Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. Constables in these nations

were surveyed on a variety of law enforcement issues including their judg-

ments about citizen support and cooperation for the activities necessary to

produceeffective 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 national

factors influence such perceptions.Within-nation analyses reveal interesting

differences in the factors that influence whether a community is seen by

officers 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 the

main 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 in

2002. 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 to

thankt he commissioners of police who affordedaccess tot he data and especially the constables who

so graciously gave of their time to respond to the survey as well as consenting to be observed and

interviewed.

POLICE QUARTERLY Vol. 9 No. 2, June 2006 234–265

DOI: 10.1177/1098611104268106

© 2006 Sage Publications

literature has evolved since then that can be broadly divided into three

domains: theoretical and conceptual development of the approach, imple-

mentation and evaluation of community policing programs, and research

addressing the factors that influence police officer beliefs, attitudes, and

behavior concerning community policing. Trojanowicz and Bucqueroux

(1998), Lurigio and Skogan (1994), and Goldstein (1990) are among the

scholars who have articulated elements of the approach and defined many

of its theoretical and conceptual foundations. Practitioners and researchers

have 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 on

the effects of police solidarity (Winfree, Bartku, & Seibel, 1996), officer

strain and frustration (Lord, 1996), and job satisfaction (Hoath, Schneider,

& Starr, 1998; Paoline, Myers, & Worden, 2000). Researchers have also

investigated 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 officersshed their traditional roles (Lurigio & Skogan, 1994) and estab-

lish meaningful partnerships with their community (Cordner, 2001), it is

essential 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 their

efforts to reach out to the community will be reciprocated, line officers will

not be willing to shed the comfortable and traditional role of law enforcer

for the uncertain role of community police officer (Rosenbaum, Yeh, &

Wilkinson, 1994).

This study proposes to fill a gap in the literature by investigating factors

that 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 as

willing or reluctant to engage in effective and meaningful police/citizen

partnerships. 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 comparative

research on the three Caribbean nations (Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad

Bennett, Morabito / CONSTABLES’PERCEPTIONS 235

and Tobago), eachwith different sociopolitical environments, but all report

that they practice some form of community policing. Using these nations in

the 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 the

government to rule and the police to maintain order.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Three themes dominate the community policing literature: conceptual

development, program implementation, and assessment of factors that

influence officer behavior. To better understand the importance of officer

perceptions within the context of community policing, these three research

areas will be briefly reviewed.

The theoretical and conceptual literature includes seminal works by

Goldstein (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 should

include 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 work

but also on enhancing outcomes. Second, traditional police agencies must

change 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 implementing

community policing (Goldstein, 1990). As a result, the field was ready for

the next wave of research: program evaluation. Governmental agencies

funded empirical evaluations of program implementation and maintenance

so 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 cannot

provide the specificity needed to understand which factors are influencing

the effectiveness of the community policing approach in different commu-

nities. Accordingly, a third body of empirical literature grew focusing not

236 POLICE QUARTERLY (Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2006)