The primary purpose of this study is to assess the relative effects of race and class, at both individual and neighborhood levels, on public satisfaction with police. Using hierarchical linear modeling on 1,963 individuals nested within 66 neighborhoods, this study analyzes how individual‐level variables, including race, class, age, gender, victimization and contact with police, and neighborhood‐level factors, including racial composition, concentrated disadvantage, residential mobility and violent crime rate, influence residents' satisfaction with police. The results from the individual‐level analysis indicate that both race and class are equally important predictors. African Americans and lower‐class people tend to be less satisfied with police. The significant effects of race and class, however, disappear when neighborhood‐level characteristics are considered simultaneously. Neighborhood racial composition affects satisfaction with police, with residents in predominately White and racially mixed neighborhoods having more favorable attitudes than those in predominately African American communities. Further analyses reveal that African Americans in economically advantaged neighborhoods are less likely than Whites in the same kind of neighborhoods to be satisfied with police, whereas African Americans and Whites in disadvantaged communities hold similar levels of satisfaction with police. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Objectives: The principal objective of the current study is to test the applicability of Tom Tyler’s process-based model of policing in China. A secondary objective of this research is to examine the internal consistency and discriminant validity of key composite constructs in Tyler’s model. Methods: Using survey data collected from approximately 1,000 residents in a Chinese city, ordinary least squares regression was employed to assess the direct and indirect (through legitimacy) effects of procedural justice, specific distributive justice, and police effectiveness on willingness to cooperate with the police. Results: The internal consistency and discriminant validity of key composites in Tyler’s original model appear questionable with the Chinese data. Procedural justice, just like in the West, plays a significant role in predicting Chinese views on police legitimacy and willingness to cooperate with the police. Meanwhile, the strongest predictor of Chinese perceptions of police legitimacy is police effectiveness. The impact of both distributive justice and effectiveness on Chinese willingness to cooperate is mainly indirect through police legitimacy. Conclusions: Key arguments of Tyler’s model are largely supported by the Chinese data. Future research needs to develop culture-specific measures to further elaborate Tyler’s process-based model of policing.

Although public assessments of the police have become the focal concern of a substantial amount of research efforts since the 1970s, a very small number of studies have analysed public opinions on the Taiwan police. Using survey data collected from three cities and two counties in 2010, this study expands the existing literature by assessing whether Taiwan residents’ perceptions are distinguishable in terms of procedural-based trust and outcome-based trust and whether both the instrumental and expressive models are predictive of Taiwanese trust in the police. Findings revealed that the Taiwanese tended to conflate procedural-based and outcome-based trust. Both the instrumental model (concerns about safety) and the expressive model (trust in neighbours and perceived quality of life) were significantly linked to Taiwanese trust in the police. Satisfaction with government performance and media influence were also predictive of police trustworthiness. Directions for future research and policy are discussed.

Trust in the police has emerged as a critical issue in China where the police have experienced a crisis of legitimacy. Only a small number of studies, however, have empirically assessed Chinese citizens’ trust in the police. Moreover, the effects of citizens’ participation in social and political activity on evaluations of the police have rarely been investigated. Using survey data collected from over 3,500 Chinese citizens in eight cities, this study examines the impact of social capital and political participation on trust in the police, controlling for demographic characteristics, sense of safety, and locality. Trust in the leaders of neighborhood committees increased the likelihood of trust in the police. A sense of safety also raised the odds of trust in the police. Citizens’ trust in the police is also predicted by trust in neighbors, participation in political activity, and gender. Trust in the police varies across cities and is explained by some common and distinctive variables.