Trust in the police force is critical to nation building and democratic stability according to a new report from the Vanderbilt University-based Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) which says that the level of trust here is 42.3 out of 100, ahead of the figures in Trinidad and Jamaica.
Released yesterday in the AmericasBarometer Insights: 2011 which is published by LAPOP, the report concluded that with an effective and credible police force citizens are more likely to participate in civic activities and feel safe in their own communities.
“They are also more likely to feel that government is doing an effective job because the police force is one of the most public arms of the government. In countries where trust in the police is low, our research and analysis underscores the importance of investing in policies of police reform in order to eliminate corrupt practices and bolster programs that deter criminal activity”, the report stressed.
The report hypothesized on four factors that likely sway trust in the police. These are victimization by corruption usually in the form of bribery, racial identity, recent experience with crime and fear of crime.
According to the report, the findings elucidate a reality of the police system in the region that faith in the police is diminished by negative encounters with the police and among those who have been victims of crime and fear.
It said that comparatively speaking corruption – measured by a police officer soliciting a bribe – had a big impact on trust in the national police.
While Guyana scored 42.3, Jamaica was at 32.6 and Trinidad and Tobago at 31.6. Argentina had the lowest ranking of all countries surveyed at 30. Chile had the highest ranking at 70.6 and the report noted that the high ranking might be explained by the fact that the interviews were done after the earthquake in Chile in 2010 where the role of the police during that period may have contributed to the high levels of trust. It was however noted that Chile had also in the late 90s and early 2000s reformed its police and criminal justice system.
Canada placed second in the survey, Suriname at third and the United States at fourth. Of the other Caricom members surveyed Haiti came in at 53.7 and Belize at 37.9.
The report said that it was noteworthy that more than half of the countries studied had average values below the midpoint reflecting a general sense of distrust of the police in the Americas.
The figures in the report are part of the Americas-Barometer 2010 survey in which 43,990 people were interviewed across 26 countries. Individuals from 26 countries including Guyana were asked to respond to the following question: On a scale from one (“not at all”) to seven (“a lot”) To what extent do you trust the National Police?
Funding for the Americas-Barometer has come mainly from the United States Agency for International Development. Additional support has come from the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and Vanderbilt University.
