Public Satisfaction with Police Performance
Public satisfaction with the performance of police officers is major concern not only for Hong Kong but also other countries because police performance is key to the public and determines the success of security officer operations. In addition, there is a considerable disagreement in the existing literature about the causes of dropping public satisfaction in the performance of the forces as well as factors which citizen satisfaction. Content analysis approach was used to assess the trend in citizens’ satisfaction with Hong Kong police performance. The findings show that people are increasingly getting dissatisfied with the Hong Kong police performance. Three variables reflecting public dissatisfaction were particularly important. These include procedural injustice, unlawfulness, and ineffectiveness. Hong Kong Criminal Justice System can address the relationship between the police and public by focusing on these three factors. Further studies on how the public interpret police conduct will enhance satisfaction.
Keywords: satisfaction, police performance
Introduction and Background Information
The role of the police in any country is to ensure safety and security of people and property (Roberts & Hough, 2005). The effectiveness of the security officers depends on the support from the public because citizens are the ones who can easily spot lawbreakers and help in arrest and prosecution to prevent future crime. However, citizens cooperate with the police only if they are satisfied with their performance. In other words, police duties might be difficult if the public does not trust the police thus not satisfied with their performance. According to Roberts and Hough (2005), citizen or public trust and satisfaction in the police is associated with positive results such as deterrence as well as compliance with the law. However, when people are not satisfied with the police performance, the effectiveness of the police in their duties will keep dropping regardless of strategies laid down.
Moreover, effective operation not only of Chinese criminal justice depends on citizens’ level of contentment with the system’s service delivery. Public security officers, who are one of the key foundations of any justice system, should establish a high citizen’s confidence and trust in the system in order to gain legitimacy. High public satisfaction in the public towards public security officer performance can only exist when the police carry on their tasks with professionalism, fairness, firmness, and equity. Wu and Sun (2009) emphasize that public confidence, trust, and satisfaction are essential to police institutions not only in China but also in other countries where the police look forward to earning legitimacy of their operations from the public. From the perspective of effective police work, confidential and good relationship with the public, which is currently missing between Hong Kong police and the public, is of primary importance. According to Wu and Sun (2009), public satisfaction can improve police performance as well as the legitimacy of their actions. However, Wu and Sun (2009) note that little research has embarked on citizen’s confidence in the performance of the officers.
Wu and Sun (2009) contend that public satisfaction is linked to the ability of the state security officers to offer security to the public. Satisfaction, through its presupposition of dedication also helps the police to gain legitimacy, the assessment which ordinary people make about their effectiveness and rightfulness of police operations and the systems which supervise them (Madan & Nalla, 2015). When the public perceives police performance as satisfactory, they cooperate with the officers in ways which ensure professionalism in the police service delivery. Low contentment with the police is mostly witnessed in post-conflict societies. Dissatisfaction with Hong Kong police begun rising after the WWII when the police frequently mistreated protesters.
Statement of Problem
Public satisfaction with the performance is essential in improving service delivery. In this regard, governments seek to assess the level of satisfaction in the public in relation to the performance of public servants. The level of citizen’s satisfaction with the performance of the police has been declining not only in Hong Kong but also in other countries. However, up to now, no adequate research has qualitatively explored the trend in level of public satisfaction with the performance of public security officers, especially in Hong Kong involving people aged 18 and above. Additionally, little or no studies conducted in this field have focused on the causes of the rising dissatisfaction in the public towards the Hong Kong police performance. Most of the studies (Flowerdew, 2017; Ma, 2015) have focused on the importance of public satisfaction with the police. Flowerdew (2017) explored the importance of positive public view of the police in the effectiveness of security officers. The study concluded that public trust and confidence enhances cooperation between citizens and police thereby making it easy for the officers to carry out their duties easily. Ho (2017) explored factors which boost public confidence in the police. The studies concluded that professionalism, fairness, integrity, and procedural justice enhance public in the police. However, these studies did not involve the elderly who are believed to have long experience with the police. Moreover, none of the studies was carried out in Hong Kong. The current study bridges these research gaps by focusing on a variety of determinants of public satisfaction with police performance from the perspective of people aged 18 years and above in Hong Kong.
Purpose of the Study
The project sought to understand the current trend in the citizen’s satisfaction with the Hong Kong police performance. In other words, the report assessed whether the level of satisfaction is declining or rising. The study further intents to fill the research gap in understanding the possible causes of the dropping satisfaction. Assessing the experientially constructed views by interpreting the subjects can help to unveil factors which fuel positive or negative perceptions of the public towards the police. The study examined people’s satisfaction towards the officers’ performance and recommended strategies to improve the relationship.
Research Objective
The primary objective of the dissertation is to assess the causes of the low level of satisfaction in people with Hong Kong police.
Specific Objectives
The researcher sought to address the following specific objectives.
To assess whether people’s satisfaction with Hong Kong police performance is dropping
To understand why people’s satisfaction towards police performance are dropping
To understand what can be done to improve the satisfaction
Research Questions
1. Do you think public satisfaction with the Hong Kong Force performance is dropping?
2. Why is people’s satisfaction with the police performance declining?
3. What can be done to enhance public satisfaction with the police?
Theoretical Framework
The dissertation explored the low level of public satisfaction in the performance of the police based on social contrast and procedural theories. Procedural justice theory is an ideal conceptual method for this study because it is a perception-based framework or model of social order and law. The theory also fits this study since it assesses ways in which individuals relate to and accept the power and authority of police officers based on experimental constructs. From Gau (2015) perspective, procedural justice is derived from the large social justice theoretical base and explores the link between communal and individual feelings of the legitimacy of the police as well as systemic fairness which lead to corresponding actions which define social order and citizen compliance. Procedural justice theory further supports the practical and theoretical need of this dissertation by recommending further study into people subjective nature of their judgments in relation to the fairness of criminal justice processes as well as the determinant factors that form the judgments.
On the other hand, social justice theory sets up the philosophical underpinnings of all criminal and legal justice system procedures, determinations, and policies (Gau, 2015). The theory lays the social and political foundations for managing diverse accounts of human nature which shape conflict, compliance, and cooperation forms that can be used to address the challenges of professional ethics witnessed in public administration. According to Gau (2015), social contract theory offers an ideal secondary framework through which to assess the public interactive views and evaluation of social justice and public safety outcomes. Given that the theory encompasses the dynamics of power in the relationship between citizens and the police which this study explores, it is an ideal theoretical approach to assess the causes of dropping public satisfaction towards police performance.
In line with the methodology of this report, the theories help to assess the gap in the current literature. Once assessed, the findings of the study will help to inform and also reconcile expectations for the public, police officers, as well as the communities they serve.
The Significance of the Study
Recently, the behavior of Hong Police has been unwelcoming thus losing confidence and trust in the public (DeNita & Square-Smith, 2017). Some of the reasons for the declining satisfaction in the public regarding the performance of the police include police abuse of protesters, selective enforcement, opposition from the public, and taking political stances in their operations. As such, the relationship between the public security officers and the public has been increasingly tense (DeNita & Square-Smith, 2017). Research conducted by IPCC shows that there have been increasing cases of complaints from the public against the police. The rationale of the current research is to ascertain whether indeed the relationship between Hong Kong police and citizens is still deteriorating, the reasons for the declining level of satisfaction of the public with police performance, and what can be done to address the situation.
The Rationale of the Study
There are various reasons for choosing this topic. First and foremost, despite their growing proportion in the population, people aged 65 and above have been engaged in little studies related to citizens’ satisfaction with the performance of the police thereby leaving a research gap to be bridged in the current literature (DeNita & Square-Smith, 2017). Therefore, understanding public assessment of the police performance will offer invaluable implications for the collaboration between the community and the police as well as policing strategies.
Study Structure
The report consists of four chapters after this introduction. The introduction is followed by a literature review which presents data on other researchers’ views about the area of study. The next chapter after literature review is methodology which outlines various subsections including the area of study, research design, types of data and instruments used to collect data, population targeted in the study, and approaches used to analyze data. The next chapter is results and discussion. The section presents the data gathered from the survey and its analysis. The last chapter is a conclusion which offers an overview of the entire study and recommendations for further studies on the topic.
The chapter explores the views of other authors based on the existing studies. The findings of the literature will help to affirm or disapprove data obtained from the survey.
Levels of Public Satisfaction towards Hong Kong Police
The rising concern about low levels of citizen’s satisfaction towards Hong Kong police has influenced abundant studies in this area. A research carried out by the Chinese University of Hong Kong showed that people trust and contentment with the Hong Kong police has declined significantly over the last seven years (Cheung, 2015). The study involved 1,006 respondents asked to rate their levels of satisfaction with the Hong Kong police on a scale of 0 to 10. The results indicated a mean score of 5.41, a decline from a mean score of 5.79 recorded in the last one year (Cheung, 2015). However, respondents had diverse views in relation to their trust as evident in the survey results. The outcomes of the survey showed that only 11% of the participants gave a zero score implying total mistrust in the performance of the force while 12.8 percent of those involved expressed total trust in the force by giving it a score of ten.
The study further sought to understand the causes of public distrust in the forces. The majority of the respondents cited unfair police treatment of protesters aligned to the Umbrella Movement during citizen-police encounters (Cheung, 2015). Some respondents cited the detention without trial of the leaders of the Umbrella Movement and use of excessive force against protestors. Those who indicated a high trust in the claimed that only people who do not wish to comply with police orders claim low satisfaction with the police (Cheung, 2015).
Although the study offers important insights that the level of community liking with the police is dropping, a number of issues might raise questions on the validity of the survey. First and foremost, the sampling approach, population used, and inclusion criteria are not clear. Most of the arguments were based on interviews conducted with police chiefs who might not want to taint the image of the force. In addition, data were collected using emergency police calls (Cheung, 2015). Local people might fear to say anything negative against the police over the phone because they might doubt the motives of the survey.
In contrast, a survey carried out by HKU POP (2016) indicated high satisfaction with Hong Kong police. The study involved 1000 respondents conducted through the phone. Participants were asked to rate their happiness with the performance of different police forces including Independent Commission Against Corruption, Government Flying Service, Fire Services Department, and Auxiliary Medical Service. Respondents rated all the departments over 75% implying that they were highly satisfied with their performance.
Just like Cheung’s (2015) study, HKU POP’s (2016) survey involved some questionable factors. First thing, the participants were chosen using random sampling method implying that some of them could be police officers or their relatives who might not say anything against the forces. In other words, the survey did not follow any inclusion and exclusion criteria. In addition, the author did not consider different factors which might influence people’s level of satisfaction with the forces. Including various determinants would have made the outcomes of the study more reliable than ones release.
Reasons for the Dropping Public Satisfaction with Police Performance
The main idea behind understanding the cause of declining public satisfaction towards the performance of police is to develop strategies to address the issues. Numerous studies have been carried out regarding why citizen satisfaction with the performance of security officers is declining. The factors assessed include a plethora of demographic variables, individual attitudes, and neighborhood traits including measures of citizen’s views of the police performance, disorder, as well as the nature of the contact between the public and the police. Although some of the demographic variables might be linked with public attitudes towards police, such findings offer little value for policy-makers because little can be done to control factors such as gender, race, or age. In this regard, the current study focuses on factors that determine the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the public with the performance of the public security officers or police.
Procedural Injustice
Madan and Nalla (2015) explored the significance of procedural justice on people confidence and satisfaction with the police performance in the U.S. The study involved 250 college students chosen using random sampling method. The author sought to understand the significance of procedural justice in determining the public contentment with the police. The data obtained was analyzed through content analysis approach. The study revealed that procedural justice is related to the perceived fairness of the process followed to arrive at a given decision and the perceived treatment one receives during the process of decision-making. Some of the key elements of procedural justice which influence one’s satisfaction with police enumerated in this include trust, neutrality, and respect (Madan & Nalla, 2015). The study further established that interpersonal treatment citizens receive in their encounters with police influences their satisfaction with the security officers’ service delivery and consequently, the legitimacy of the police in different context.
According to Madan and Nalla (2015), when the security officers treat people in a manner deemed procedurally fair, they are considered likely to be contended with the performance of the police and feel obliged to adhere to the orders issued by the security officers. The findings were replicated in Australia (Dai & Jiang, 2016), Slovenia (Jo & Shim, 2015), and a range of Europe states (Moreira, Cardoso, & Nalla, 2015). Nalla, Hamm, and Paek (2018) underscore that procedural justice is essential since it communicates to citizens their point of view and helps to strengthen the bond between police authorities and the public. The main implication from the literature on procedural justice is that daily encounters between the public and the police can have a positive influence on the public assessment of the security officers, including satisfaction.
Unlawfulness: Police Misconduct and Corruption
Various studies have been carried out on the effects of police corruption and misconduct on public trust and satisfaction. Closely linked to procedural injustice, security officer misconduct and corruption reflect a wide range of illegal police conducts such as demanding and taking bribes, extortion, illegal stops, and abuse, which are likely to faced as disrespectful, unfair, as well as intrusive ‘procedures’ (Nalla, Hamm, & Paek, 2018). Nalla, Hamm, and Paek (2018) carried out a study in the United Kingdom to assess the significance of police corruption on public satisfaction with the officers. The survey engaged 175 people aged 18 years and above chosen through simple random sampling approach. Nalla, Hamm, and Paek (2018) concluded that police corruption and misconduct are crucial to understanding satisfaction with security officers since procedural injustice showed in the officers’ unethical lowers public’s moral identification with the officers.
Nalla, Hamm, and Paek (2018) further concluded that police misconduct, especially corruption has attained increasing attention among researchers because it implies that policing, as a public utility is not fairly delivered to the people. Such cases are mostly witnessed in developing nations where police misconduct including bribery and corruption, aggressing policing, harassment, or use of brutality and force is prevalent. For instance, a survey conducted in South African on police victimization of protesters showed that corruption in public security officers significantly lowered people’s satisfaction and trust in the officers.
However, as Holmes, Painter, and Smith (2017) emphasize, misconduct in the police force is not limited to developing countries. For example, in the U.S, Holmes, Painter, and Smith’s (2017) study showed that indicated that police corruption assessed based on the index of the use of insulting language and force, stopping and searching people with no good reasons, and corrupt acts such as involvement in drug trade and bribe-taking, was found to considerably lower public satisfaction with public security officers’ performance. In a cross-national study that compared democratic and non-democratic countries, Gill et al. (2014) established that regardless of the type of regime, people in nations which failed to address cases of corrupt activities were likely to be dissatisfied or lack confidence in the police performance.
Police unethical conducts such as corruption also occur in China. A survey conducted by Li and Sun (2015) in the country shows that the public perceives Hong Kong police, especially the traffic police to be corrupt thus leading to declining satisfaction in them. According to Li and Sun (2015), some Hong Kong traffic police are often spotted soliciting money from drivers. Public experiences such as those described by Li and Sun (2015) have been found to undermine public perception of the police performance in the country. Specifically, Sahin et al. (2017) in a study carried out in Chicago involving 200 university students on the influence of corruption on public satisfaction with the police service delivery found that people who experienced corrupt activities such as witnessing police solicit and take bribes and viewed anticorruption strategies in place to be ineffective were not likely to perceive the security officers as trustworthy and fair.
Police Ineffectiveness
Ineffectiveness of the police in their daily operations also influences public satisfaction with their performance. According to Li and Sun (2015), people’s view on public security officers are characterized as instrumental, outcome-oriented evaluations. That is, people are also concerned with how well security officers carry out their duties, such as minimizing crime or addressing an issue, respectively. Based on Sahin et al. (2017) study conducted in the U.S, positive results such as reducing crime are linked to positive views. Similarly, Li and Sun (2015) found that factors based on process, particularly procedural justice influences on people ultimate evaluation of the performance of the police.
However, in some contexts, efficiency might take priority over public concerns with the process of police service delivery. For example, in countries such as South Africa where insecurity is high, Bradford et al. (2014) found that the public emphasis on the effectiveness of the police when assessing the performance of the officers. The study involved 120 people chosen using purposive sampling strategy and data analyzed through descriptive analysis approach. The authors argue that effectiveness is crucial because the police in most countries have not yet established the desired threshold of the police effectiveness.
Methodology
The intention of the project is to gain insights into the causes of declining level of people’s satisfaction with police performance. The methodology chapter describes the method adopted for this study, justification of the researcher’s choice, research design, population of the target group, strategy used in sampling, data collection, and analysis methods, and ethical consideration.
Study Area
The survey data was gathered from Hong Kong, a Chinese coastal city. The city hosts more than seven million people from both western and Chinese cultures.
Research Paradigm
There are two main research philosophies. These include interpretivism and positivism. Positivism is a presumption that only legitimate knowledge can be gained from experience implying that human beings can be assessed as objects (Mora, 2012). On the other hand, interpretivism is linked to subjectivism which perceives reality as a social construction (Mora, 2012). Interpretivism focuses on individual’s interpretations and rejects the notion of scientific approach in social research (Mora, 2012). The current study focuses on the experience of people aged 18 and above with the police thus it uses the interpretivism paradigm.
Research Approach
The study combined qualitative and quantitative approaches. On one hand, qualitative research is suitable for the unstructured type of study consisting of a small number of respondents to gain information (Lapan, Quartaroli & Riemer, 2011). On the other hand, quantitative research is structured and utilizes a sample of the population as opposed to selected individuals. According to Lapan, Quartaroli, and Riemer (2011), the qualitative study looks forward to gaining in-depth knowledge. Given the nature of the study, both qualitative and quantitative strategies of data gathering were applied. The reason for combing the two approaches is to enhance assessment and balance the limitations of one approach with the strengths of the other.
Study Design
The study deployed quantitative research design. From Leavy’s (2017) perspective, there are four forms of quantitative research design including descriptive, quasi-experimental, correlational, and experimental. For the interest of this study, the researcher adopted a descriptive design which focuses on describing the current status of given phenomenon (Heppner, Wampold, & Kivlighan, 2008). The study seeks to gather data on the causes of low levels of public satisfaction with police performance.
Quantitative Technique
The author distributed questionnaires to about 150 respondents in Hong Kong, in hardcopy forms. The respondents were allowed a maximum of 20 minutes to fill and return the questionnaire for further actions. All the information related to the study was offered in the questionnaire’s introductory statement.
Target Population
Although a wide research has been conducted to assess the attitudes of the general public towards the police, little has focused on the views of the public on the performance of the police (Chi, Chappell, & Lubben, 2016). The current research focused on the cause of increasing dissatisfaction of people aged above 18 years in Hong Kong with the police.
Sampling Technique
Sampling in research helps to scale down the target population to ensure easier data gathering and analysis (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2008). The study was based on purposive sampling technique where the researcher used his judgment to choose respondents who helped to attain the set research objectives (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2008). 150 people aged 65 and above were identified and chosen for the study. The author personally visited the respondents, explained the requirements of the respondents, the purpose of the study, and distributed the questionnaires. Explaining the objective of the research helped to get consent from the target respondents and allow them to decide whether or not to partake in the survey.
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
Salkind (2010) recommends the use of a clear exclusion and inclusion to ensure that only resourceful respondents are engaged in a given survey. The research only included people aged 65 and above who have resided in Hong Kong for one or more years and had experience with police service. Therefore, those who had stayed in the city for less than a year during the study, aged below 65, or had no experience with the police service were excluded from the study. The other inclusion criterion was one’s willingness to take part in the study voluntarily.
Research Process
The researcher personally visited the respondents and requested them to take part in the survey after explaining the nature, objective, and scope of the research to them. The participants were willing to take part in the study and the survey kicked off on 23rd May 2018. The discussions took place at respondents’ residential and lasted for 20 minutes. The researcher kept notes during the survey to help in analyzing the collected data.
Ethical Considerations
Ethics are values or moral principles which influence how researchers carry out their study activities (Miller, 2012). In addition to supervisor approval, the research proposal was presented to the Institutional Review Board and approved thus allowing the researcher to proceed with the study. Various ethical issues were also taken into account.
Informed Consent
The researcher used a consent form to gain permission from respondents to undertake the study before distributing the questionnaires as suggested by Miller (2012). The participants were asked to sign the form as a formal indicated that they agreed to participate in the survey. People involved in the study were informed that they will be able to get the results upon request after completion of the study (Miller, 2012). Participants were also allowed to withdraw from the survey without notice or losing any benefits of the study.
Participants Protection
Respondents were not coerced to take part or answer questions they deemed sensitive to avoid exposing them to any mental or psychological stress. The researcher informed the participants that they could decline to answer such questions at any point during the study (Miller, 2012). In addition, respondents were not abused or harmed both psychologically and physically during the study. In contrast, the researcher created and maintained environment favorable for all those involved in the survey as recommended by Miller (2012).
Confidentiality
The author assured those involved in the survey that all their information will be handled with anonymity. Some of the measures used to ensure anonymity included avoiding the use of respondent names as well as institutions during compilation or publication of the research report (Miller, 2012). All the questionnaires were kept in locked cabinet only accessible to me or the supervisor upon request. Identifiable data was coded using numbers 0-9. The data will be completely destroyed by burning after completion, grading, and final feedback from the supervisor.
