Differing services, rising expectations, and greater demands: Patterns in variations of police-public dynamics across areas with conventional and community policing in India

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that impact assessment of police performance across the two types of policing methods, and explains the differing police public dynamics at the field level.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the varying police public dynamics in areas with and without community policing. For this purpose data were obtained from a survey conducted in the City of Calicut where the Janamaitri community policing program was implemented in some of the police stations. To obtain a contrasting perspective in areas without community policing, survey was also conducted in areas where community policing was not conducted. The method adopted in this study is to map people's perception of police performance and factors impacting it across the two areas and compare the same. The comparison is done by examining the OLS regression in the two areas with same independent and dependent variables, and explaining similarities and contrasts in trends.

Findings

It concludes that while community policing has great advantages over conventional policing, it has the challenge of increasing expectation among the public and diminishing impact of certain factors that are relevant in conventional police service delivery mechanisms.

Originality/value

There is one of the first studies comparing and analyzing the differing police public dynamics in areas with community policing and areas with conventional policing. It provides an insight into how public perception of police is formed in these differing environments.

Citation

Vinod Kumar, T.K. (2014), "Differing services, rising expectations, and greater demands: Patterns in variations of police-public dynamics across areas with conventional and community policing in India", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 170-189. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-08-2012-0080