Public satisfaction with law enforcement in Turkey

Abstract

PurposeIn this study, the aim is to address the void in the comparative literature of criminology and criminal justice by investigating public attitudes toward law enforcement in a rapidly developing country, Turkey.Design/methodology/approachThree different models of satisfaction with law enforcement, the demographic model, the quality of life model and the experiential model are subjected to empirical scrutiny in the context of policing in Turkey. In line with extant research on satisfaction with law enforcement in the West, all three models significantly explain the variation of satisfaction with law enforcement across a random sample of 6,713 individuals living in urban and rural parts of Turkey. Specifically, the quality of life model and the experiential model had considerable impact on public satisfaction with law enforcement and in general, all three models produced results in the predicted direction.FindingsOverall, the findings suggest the robust nature of the integrated demographic, quality of life, and experiential models in explaining public satisfaction with law enforcement. In the demographic model, however, income and education had significant negative impact on global satisfaction with law enforcement. Considering the fact that more educated and well off citizens are likely to value freedom more and that law enforcement may represent an oppressive part of a democratic government, this might account for the reaction of higher socioeconomic classes to the power distance between the state, the police in particular, and civil society.Originality/valueIn terms of policy recommendations, to the extent that community policing is regarded as a set of strategies for improving the quality of police‐citizen encounters and reforming police organizations, these findings lend support for the potential of community policing in Turkey.

Factors affecting trust in police in Turkey

“…Although the study of public perceptions toward the police has taken many forms in recent literature (i.e. trust in police, distrust in police, confidence in police) (Andreescu & Keeling, 2012;Cao et al, 1998;2011;Keane & Bell, 2013;Kaariainen, 2007;Luhiste, 2006) as well as explored the issue in different countries (i.e. European, USA and etc.…”

South Korean business owners' perceptions of community policing in the Baltimore City

“…The study of public satisfaction with law enforcement in a rapidly developing country, Turkey, also contributed to the research literature on community policing (Karakus, McGarrell, & Basibuyuk, 2011). According to Karakus et al (2011), income and education are highly relative to public satisfaction with law enforcement and that citizens with higher socioeconomic status tended to have negative attitudes toward law enforcement in Turkey.…”

“…Based on the results of this study, Karakus et al (2011) implied that the Turkish National Police should invest more on democratic and community policing to narrow the power distance between Turkish public and police. Fielding and Innes (2006) pointed out inadequate measures of community policing performance and argued that a qualitative approach is a more appropriate evaluating method than a quantitative approach in measuring dimensions of community policing.…”

“…This study alludes to the idea that the performance of police organizations can be evaluated by delving into how business owners feel about their local police officers. Since studying community policing based on public opinion is considered important in a democratic society (Karakus, McGarrell, & Basibuyuk, 2011), a police organization's community policing methods can be improved by listening to the voice of underrepresented community stakeholders. The researcher contends that the most democratic way of making decisions is by considering culturally diverse opinions because the perspective of every business owner regarding their needs and experiences exert a certain influence on community relationships with police and community growth.…”

“…According to Karakus et al (2011), income and education are highly relative to public satisfaction with law enforcement and that citizens with higher socioeconomic status tended to have negative attitudes toward law enforcement in Turkey. Karakus et al (2011) explained this phenomenon in the following manner:…”