Correlates of Support for Community-Police Partnerships in Policing among Nigerian and US College Students

Abstract

While there is a growing body of research on people’s views of community policing, there have been a very few cross-national studies, especially concerning nonwestern countries. In order to compare and contrast students’ views on community policing partnerships, 274 Nigerian and 484 U.S. college students were surveyed. Ordinary least squares regression analysis of the data revealed that the majority of respondents supported a partnership between the community and the police, with the Nigerian students reporting slightly higher levels of support than their U.S. counterparts. Both attachment to conventional society and general confidence in the police were positively related to students’ support for community policing partnerships in both nations. A belief that the police should be civil, a perception that the police were effective, and support for community oversight of the police were significant predictors of support for community policing partnerships among the U.S. students but not the Nigerian students. A perception that crime was a problem, a view that the public should support the police, and academic level had nonsignificant associations with community policing partnership support for both groups of students. Gender had a significant relationship with support for community policing partnerships among the Nigerian students (men were higher in their support), while age had a positive association among the U.S. students. Punitive orientation had a significant negative association with attitudes toward community policing among the U.S. students but was not a significant predictor among the Nigerian students.