The Effect of Urban Neighborhood Disorder on Evaluations of the Police and Courts

Abstract

Are people dissatisfied with the courts as well as the police when they perceive high levels of disorder in their neighborhoods? Consistent with previous research, this study, using a representative sample of Canadian adults, demonstrates that people are significantly more negative about the police when they perceive high levels of disorder. They are not, however, more negative toward the courts when confronted with these social problems. It is possible that they have heard the police rhetoric—namely, that the police form the “thin blue line” between order and chaos. Although the public holds the police and the courts responsible for increasing rates of crime, victimization, and fear, they do not see the courts as being responsible for neighborhood disorder, which they see as being the sole responsibility of the police.

Does the Fear of Crime Erode Public Confidence in Policing?

“…This expressive perspective already finds support in work from the US (Tyler & Boeckmann, 1997;cf Cao et al, 1996;Reisig & Parks, 2000;Sprott & Doob, 2008) and the UK (Jackson, 2004, Jackson & Sunshine, 2007Jackson & Bradford, 2008). These studies suggest that when the right-wing press highlights ASB, 'youths hanging around,' and public drunkenness, it touches a public nerve which links anxieties about the pace and direction of social change to more local worries about neighbourhood disorder and cohesion (as distinct from anxieties about crime).…”

One country, three populations: Trust in police among migrants, villagers, and urbanites in China

“…For example, using time series regression to analyze 84 months of the BCS data, Sindall and co-researchers (2012) showed that victimization rates were significantly connected to monthly levels of public confidence in the police, whereas public perceptions of crime, disorder, and social cohesion were not predictive. Sprott and Doob's (2009) investigation of the Canadian General Social Survey data revealed that worries about crime and victimization (along with perceptions of neighborhood disorder) lowered public confidence in the police.…”

Perceptions of the Police: The Influence of Individual and Contextual Factors in a Racially Diverse Urban Sample

“…Individual factors, such as contact with the police (Bartsch & Cheurprakobkit, 2004;Payne & Gainey, 2007;Wells, 2007) and victimization (Brown & Benedict, 2002;Hurst & Frank, 2000;Priest & Carter, 1999), have also been shown to influence perceptions of law enforcement. Finally, neighborhood contextual factors like neighborhood disorder (Ren et al, 2005;Sprott & Doob, 2009), residential mobility (Wu, Sun, & Triplett, 2009), and fear of crime (Brown & Benedict, 2002;Hennigan, Maxson, Sloane, & Ranney, 2002;Wu et al, 2009) also play a role in the formation of attitudes toward the police.…”

“…A growing body of literature suggests that citizens' perceptions of their neighborhood have a powerful effect on their views of the police (Brindenball & Jesilow, 2008;Gau & Brunson, 2010;Schafer et al, 2003;Sprott & Doob, 2009). Those who live in areas with high levels of neighborhood "incivilities" are more likely to hold negative opinions of the police (Ren et al, 2005;Sprott & Doob, 2009).…”

“…Those who live in areas with high levels of neighborhood "incivilities" are more likely to hold negative opinions of the police (Ren et al, 2005;Sprott & Doob, 2009). Incivilities include the presence of littered streets, graffiti, public drinking, gang activity, loitering, prostitution, and so on.…”