Victims' evaluation oof police performace

Abstract

The findings of a study aimed at measuring citizen satisfaction with police performance in victimization situations and analyzing the variation in this performance indicator are reported here. Evaluation of the police from this perspective is recognized as being important as an indication of responsiveness to citizens' needs and desires, in part because improved police effectiveness will require citizen cooperation and participation. The analysis used data on members of victimized households drawn from a community survey in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The line of questioning on victimization incidents moved from perceptions of response time and investigations to whether a suspect was arrested or convicted, with respondents also being asked about their satisfaction at various stages in this process as well as their satisfaction with overall police performance. The analysis indicates (1) that overall satisfaction varies with type of crime and response time more than with socioeconomic characteristics, (2) that follow-up investigations and arrests influence overall satisfaction beyond satisfaction with the initial investigation, (3) that satisfaction with the police decreases at later stages of the process, and (4) that for those cases involving a follow-up investigation, overall satisfaction is more closely tied to satisfaction with the way in which the follow-up was conducted than to satisfaction with response time or the initial investigation.