The Eye of the Beholder

Abstract

This investigation revealed that 202 community residents and 53 policemen agreed on standards for police conduct but differed sharply in their views on actual police behavior. Within the community, females, Caucasians, and older people set the most rigorous police standards, but males, minorities, and youth were most dissatisfied with police practices. Present results cast further doubt upon the concept of "the police personality" and yielded little evidence of an insidious enculturation process which hardens police attitudes over time. Sources of police-community friction were detailed and a community intervention program was proposed.