“Asymmetry in the Impact of Encounters with Police.” Police & Society, Vol. 6 (No. 2,
June), 99-126.
This article examines the impact of personal experience on popular assessments of the quality of police
service. Following past research, it addresses the influences of personal and neighborhood factors on
confidence in the police. It then focuses on the additional impact of positive and negative personal
experiences with the police. Several studies of police encounters with the public have noted that the
relationship between how people recall being treated and their general confidence in the police may be
asymmetrical. At its worst, the police may get essentially no credit for delivering professional service, while
bad experiences can deeply influence peoples’ views of their performance and even legitimacy. This
proposition is tested using survey data on police-initiated and citizen-initiated contacts with police in
Chicago. The findings indicate that the impact of having a bad experience is four to fourteen times as great
as that of having a positive experience, and the coefficients associated with having a good experience–
including being treated fairly and politely, and receiving service that was prompt and helpful–were not
statistically different from zero. Another section of the article replicates this finding using surveys of residents
of seven other urban areas located in three different countries. The article concludes that this is bad news
indeed for police administrators intent on solidifying their support among voters, taxpayers and the
consumers of public service.
June), 99-126.
This article examines the impact of personal experience on popular assessments of the quality of police
service. Following past research, it addresses the influences of personal and neighborhood factors on
confidence in the police. It then focuses on the additional impact of positive and negative personal
experiences with the police. Several studies of police encounters with the public have noted that the
relationship between how people recall being treated and their general confidence in the police may be
asymmetrical. At its worst, the police may get essentially no credit for delivering professional service, while
bad experiences can deeply influence peoples’ views of their performance and even legitimacy. This
proposition is tested using survey data on police-initiated and citizen-initiated contacts with police in
Chicago. The findings indicate that the impact of having a bad experience is four to fourteen times as great
as that of having a positive experience, and the coefficients associated with having a good experience–
including being treated fairly and politely, and receiving service that was prompt and helpful–were not
statistically different from zero. Another section of the article replicates this finding using surveys of residents
of seven other urban areas located in three different countries. The article concludes that this is bad news
indeed for police administrators intent on solidifying their support among voters, taxpayers and the
consumers of public service.
“Citizen Satisfaction with Police Encounters.” Police Quarterly, 8 (No. 3, September),
2005, 298-321.
This article examines the character and consequences of encounters between police and residents of the
City of Chicago. It describes the frequency with which they contacted the police for assistance or support
and how often they were stopped by them. Follow-up questions gathered information about the character of
those contacts. The analysis contrasts the effects of experiential, on-scene factors with those of race, age,
gender, and language on satisfaction with encounters. It demonstrates the great importance of the quality
of routine police-citizen encounters, for things that officers did on the spot dominated in determining
satisfaction. The personal characteristics of city residents played an important role in shaping who was
treated in this way or that and affected satisfaction primarily through on-scene actions by police.
2005, 298-321.
This article examines the character and consequences of encounters between police and residents of the
City of Chicago. It describes the frequency with which they contacted the police for assistance or support
and how often they were stopped by them. Follow-up questions gathered information about the character of
those contacts. The analysis contrasts the effects of experiential, on-scene factors with those of race, age,
gender, and language on satisfaction with encounters. It demonstrates the great importance of the quality
of routine police-citizen encounters, for things that officers did on the spot dominated in determining
satisfaction. The personal characteristics of city residents played an important role in shaping who was
treated in this way or that and affected satisfaction primarily through on-scene actions by police.
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Police-Public Encounters