I don't think that it's abnormal for other countries to trust their police less. It's healthy. The cult of the police hero in the USA stops a great deal of productive discussion on police powers, the rule of law, and justice.

Posted by Jan Walter on 12/01/2008 @ 10:37AM PST

Jan - I agree completely. Our trust of police in the US leads to wrongful convictions, false confessions and unreasonably high sentences.

Effective and fair law enforcement policies require a balance of trust and skepticism from the public, and I think this shows that the US probably leans a little bit toward trust.

At the same time, our law enforcement agencies are quite well-trained and well-equipped when compared to other countries. So they probably are more effective at controlling crime than some of the others on the list - the question is, at what cost?

Posted by Matt Kelley on 12/01/2008 @ 11:31AM PST

Do you actually hate this country so badly that you can't see another possibility? The reason police abuse is in the news in this country is that is news. Every day across America almost every single police officer in this country conducts her/himself as a proffessional and deserves our respect for that. Instances of abuse of power are rare and met with notoriety, discipline, and termination. Yes there are cases where bad officers escape justice far too long, but I will guess a lot less time than in many countries. Who out there has any hesitation about calling these people when you are in trouble?

Posted by Charlie Reed on 12/01/2008 @ 02:33PM PST

It's not about hating America, because I'm a cold war US Navy vet and I do not hate America at all, but fear my government and the abuses that they have wrought.

These people are correct that the Blue Line is a serious barrier to justice and freedom in our nation.

First of all, this survey is highly biased by its own admission, coming from "Crime Victim Households." Which types of households? Upper class residences? Firmly middle class suburbia? Or inner city ghettos? I've seen real data about police brutality, and viewed hearings in several cities over police anonymity and civilian oversight. This data did not come from inner cities or blighted areas with high crime.

One interesting facet about police forces is that they are 100% universally against any civilian oversight in areas that do not already have a citizens review board. Only after it's been proved that they are not going to be villified or needlessly curtailed in powers do the forces begin to accept civil oversight as rational.

Civil Oversight has never resulted in the conviction of an on-duty officer in any criminal court that I'm aware of. Usually what the review boards do is casually review incidents of complaints against police and teach the police department how to minimize those complaints.

Rarely do our governments arrest and charge any officer with any wrong doing, in or out of review board jurisdictions. Officers are still simply terminated if they're found to be misbehaving too eggregiously. It is so noteworthy that an officer be charged with any crime that it always makes the front pages.

Even in cities where last nights murders do not.

~D

Posted by donald lee on 12/02/2008 @ 05:42AM PST

There is no doubt there are many abuses of power, We have to realize that compared to almost every other country, our people come off looking pretty good. This is a huge country with a number of police officers I could not even guess at, with even the slightest suggestion of police brutality being plastered all over every America hating newspaper in America. We have incredibly high standards for our police in this country, (thankfully) and I am sure that by far the majority meet them. We do need to be on constant guard against government abuse of power though, such as Ruby Ridge and Waco murders during the Clinton era. Any attempt to limit freedom of speech, press, religion, self protection especially need to be met with firm resistance. Almost every police officer I have ever dealt with, treated me with dignity. I have been called "sir" even while being handed a ticket. The one exception was reprimanded after one phone call to the mayor, and believe me I am absolutely noone!

Posted by Charlie Reed on 12/02/2008 @ 12:32PM PST

Matt said: " they probably are more effective at controlling crime than some of the others on the list"

I wonder if that's true ... eyeballing that list, I'm pretty sure that our homicide rate is higher than every single other country on it.  By a good margin, I'd guess.  Violent crime is probably also higher here than the majority of those countries.  And we have a much higher proportion of our population in prison than *all* of those countries. 

I'll venture a theory that won't make Charlie happy: Our national predisposition to squelch criticism of the Fatherland blinds us to a policing system that doesn't actually work very well compared to other wealthy countries.  Yet it leads to the result of a populace that *believes* its system is "the greatest in the world."

My personal experiences with police have been highly contextual.  My memory is long enough to recall a time when I didn't care for the way my friends and I were treated by the police at all ...

Posted by Dave Bennion on 12/02/2008 @ 07:23PM PST

I may have misunderstood the point, by "trust" I thought we meant we trusted the police to not abuse their power by being violent, stealing from us, etc. As far as enforcing the law effectively our police have their hands tied. They arrest them, the courts let them go. As far this countries' violence rate, that has more to do with the people who live here, not the police. By the time the police are involved in a violence case it is usually an after the fact investigation. The only way to change that would be to have a level of surveillance that not too many of us want. Dave, as I said I too have been mistreated by a police officer, but there an avenue for recourse, and satisfactory results. In every other experience the officers were proffessionals even though were citing me for something or another. I am however very polite to the police and everyone else I meet in life. (at least I try)

Posted by Charlie Reed on 12/03/2008 @ 05:29AM PST

I forgot to mention that re: percentage of people in prison, that has more to do with laws that should not be on the books (like pot laws) If we emptied these prisons somewhat maybe these idiot judges would lock a few up who really ought to be. By the way believe me I have no problem being critical of this country I say plenty. But I recognise its' positive attributes also. I realise this cite is about change and is therefore by definition going to be critical, but honestly I get sick of hearing how I live in the worst nation on the planet.

Posted by Charlie Reed on 12/03/2008 @ 05:38AM PST

I feel that the police are suffering from some sort of they-need-to-be-locked-up mentality which has our jails and prisons extremely overpopulated and exceedingly dangerous.

First of all the police mostly patrol predominately poorer area and area containing high concentration of minorities...people who are unprepared to legally defend themselves. Perhaps poverty is the true culprit of high levels of crime in 'poor' areas. If you've ever watched the TV show cops, think back... have you ever seen them arrest (or even speak to for that matter) a person with a suit?

In the African American community where I live the police are the enemy. They are a constant source of abuse and harassment. What makes it illegal to stand on the sidewalk speaking. Nonetheless, the police just pull up and ask for ID hoping to find some violation of anything. They have laws also to follow too but who is policing them?

In my view it is difficult for people in poorer areas to feel heroic about police when so many young men of color have been 'accidentally' shot and killed by the police for 'reaching for my weapon' or 'resisting arrest' while struggling to breath while being choked to death with a night stick while the police shout "be still, be still". Ant the courts mostly back the police. When in court, there is usually a state paid public defender who has a case load of about 50 cases...today, with 50 more coming tomorrow (thanks to the police), a state paid DA, a state paid judge, a state, county or municipality paid law enforcement officer and you. In the poorer communities we are guilty until proved innocent not matter what you might think to the contrary.

This is very disturbing to me because I have 3 teenagers (2 boys and a girl) and I'm afraid for them to be out. In terms of jail and prison overcrowding, the police are the problem...not the solution. Many situations dictate a simple ticket to appear vs. being locked up, vehicle towed, having to bond out and then appear in court. It's like a money racket where everyone in the system get rewarded via the system except the defendant.

Until one actually goes through a similar ordeal, only then will the reality of heavy-handed policing be fully understood especially by non-minorities and those with money. No I'm not trying to indicate that all police are bad or out to get you but too many of them are. There should be better testing of the mind for these type of jobs where the lives of the public is in the balance. Especially when you are policing in an area mostly populated with people who do not look like you.

To date, only people of color have been fatally shot by the police...why is this? I'm not a bum but I'm a Vietnam Veteran and a proud father who hopes that the police don't kill his sons 'accidently' of course.

We suffer from some serious issues in this country dealing with the differences in things that can not be changed and which we had no choice in the outcome...such as skin color and ethnicity.

The goal in some communities of color is for a male to simply reach age 27 alive, and not incarcerated or half incarcerated (probation or parole with one foot in and one foot out). I wish that all things were truly equal and 'fair'. Perhaps that's just fantasy at this point. But it would be nice for the police to come up and just say hello without the constant ID check, but instead a how-are-you-all-doing-today check.

Posted by Vadis Frone on 12/05/2008 @ 08:37PM PST

The headline is misleading. The survey did not ask how much the police were trusted, but how well they were seen to be controlling crime.

Posted by Larry Constantine on 12/06/2008 @ 11:31AM PST

I am hoping that this is simply a summary of a very thorough and careful questionnaire, as a simple question of "do police deal well with crime?" will get answers of approval more where there is less crime; this does not demonstrate much about trust.
If the question is different, for instance "do you think police follows the law as it is?" or "do you have any disrespect for some action of the police?" and each question is using a likert scale, I think we might get different results.

Posted by Boris Yakubchik on 12/09/2008 @ 08:38AM PST

Never met a policeman yet who wouldn't lie in court to get a conviction.They simply cannot be trusted. Their job is to arrest you, not be your friend. I don't know anyone who trusts them and I'm 55 years old and I travel alot.

Posted by William Henry Myers on 01/06/2009 @ 04:04AM PST