A Public Survey Poll on Residents’ Satisfaction with and Opinion of Policing and Police Performance and the Feeling of Safety in the Region of Murska Sobota Police Directorate
Purpose:
The paper presents the results of the Pomurje region public opinion poll on the residents’ satisfaction with the regional police, policing, execution and performance rates related to particular police tasks, and their fear of crime. Further aims of this research were to determine whether or not the residents perceive the rural settings as safer living space than the urban ones.
Design/Methods/Approach:
The survey was conducted in autumn 2010 to meet the needs of Murska Sobota police directorate. A questionnaire of the Ministry for internal affairs was used on a random sample stratified for the number of residents under a particular police station jurisdiction within said directorate. The survey was financed by the state.
The sample of 500 respondents was chosen randomly. The research was mostly made by phone (300) or by way of door-to-door questionnaire delivery (122 of which were returned).
This analysis is based on seven (7) questions: residents’ trust in and satisfaction with the regional police and policing, to the performance rates regarding particular police tasks, as well as to the fear of crime. The questions selected were highly reliable (Cronbach alfa = 0,930).
Findings:
According to the results, the residents of Pomurje trust their police (between 60 and 69 percent) and are satisfied with police work (between 56 and 66 percent). Further, they agree the police is less efficient in investigating crime than in carrying out other police tasks, and they testify to a strong feeling of safety. There is no statistically significant difference in the perception of safety between rural and urban residents, and there is no gender difference in their satisfaction with police work.
Research Limitations/Implications:
The survey having been conducted among residents of Pomurje, the results validity is also restricted to this region. The pooled sample coincides well with the population in terms of gender structure, but not in terms of education level, age, and place of residence.
Practical Implications:
These findings may be directly applied in managing police work, developing ways and selecting the tasks aimed at providing even more successful and efficient collaboration between the police and the local community, as well as in measuring the residents’ satisfaction with the regional police.
Originality/Value:
Hypothesis testing is done by way of relevant statistical tests, and the importance of conducting quality public opinion surveys is emphasized.
UDC: 351.74:316.653
Keywords: police, policing, local community, safety, partnerships, public opinion survey
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