The Overlooked Perspective of Police Trust in the Public: Measurement and Effects on Police Job Behaviors

Abstract

Many studies have looked at the public’s trust in the police, but very few have examined police trust in the public. Based on Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman’s model of trust, we conducted two studies. The first study created scales measuring the antecedents of trust and assessed police trust in the public based on a survey of 990 police officers from across the United States. The second study used the trust measures developed in the first study, as well as supervisors’ evaluations and archival performance data, in a study of the job performance of 135 police officers. We found that officers who had greater trust in the public engaged in more proactive policing and made more arrests. We discuss the implications of these findings, including what they mean for police officers and the communities they serve.

Elevated police turnover following the summer of George Floyd protests: A synthetic control study

“…Other key factors driving police turnover include loss of trust and confidence in leadership (Wilson et al., 2010; Wolfe & Lawson, 2020) and sustained negative attention (Mourtgos et al., 2020; Nix & Wolfe, 2017; PERF, 2019; Saunders et al., 2019). A given job's attractiveness depends significantly on anticipated outcomes (Steers et al., 2004).…”

“…If an officer uses force to protect themselves or someone else, following the legal and professional standards they have been trained to, but then experience backlash from their leaders or the public, a perception of inequity may result. In such a case, this may reduce an officer's motivation to remain a police officer (or at least remain a police officer in a specific jurisdiction), as it increases their chances of experiencing negative costs (Mourtgos et al., 2020). 2 Indeed, a loss of perceived organizational support is linked to an officer's organizational commitment, job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention (Adams & Mastracci, 2019; Gillet et al., 2013).…”

The impact of general police officer outlooks on their attitudes toward body-worn cameras

“…While they also found that years of experience was unrelated to distrust of citizens, other research reported "that more experienced officers were significantly less likely to be distrustful of citizens" (Ingram et al, 2013, p. 386). When an officer has greater trust in the citizens they serve, they are more proactive in their behaviors, even if their actions include personal risk (Mourtgos et al, 2019).…”

Demonstrations, demoralization, and de‐policing

“…Unfortunately, officers’ trust in the public has been given scant attention by researchers (Mourtgos et al., 2019). Many seminal works on police culture treat cynicism toward the public as a foregone conclusion—a natural and inevitable consequence of police work (Niederhoffer, 1967; Skolnick, 2011).…”

“…Wolfe and Nix (2016) found evidence of a link between public criticism of police and de‐policing, reporting that officers whose motivation was lessened as a result of negative publicity about police were less willing to engage in community partnerships (see also Oliver, 2017). Mourtgos and colleagues found that officers’ trust in the public predicts their proactive activity and number of arrests (Mourtgos, Mayer, Wise, & O'Rourke, 2019). Shi (2009) examined police activity in the Cincinnati Police Department after a 2001 riot linked to an officer‐involved shooting that led, in turn, to department oversight.…”