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Trust in the Police in 16 European Countries

A Multilevel Analysis

The Police College of Finland, juha.t.kaariainen{at}poliisi.fi

There is considerable variation in public trust towards the police in different European countries. Through multilevel analysis, the article explores what lies behind this variation. It first approaches the issue at the country level through factors related to the quality and structure of government. The quality of government is looked at and measured by examining corruption in government, and the structure of government by exploring the extent to which society invests its resources in public order and safety services. Here the assumptions are, first of all, that general corruption among public officials decreases public trust in the police and, second, that big investments in public order and safety institutions also decrease trust in the police. In addition, certain individual-level factors are identified that explain public trust in the police. Finally, empirical results are presented that corroborate the above assumptions: in particular, corruption in government strongly explains the country-level variation in public trust towards the police.

Key Words: Comparative Research • Corruption • ESS • Social Capital • Trust in the Police • Welfare States.

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European Journal of Criminology, Vol. 4, No. 4, 409-435 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1477370807080720


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kääriäinen, J. T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?