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Abstract

Enhancing trust and confidence has moved to the centre of policing policy in England and Wales. The association between direct encounters with police officers and confidence in the police is wellestablished. But is it possible for the police to increase confidence among the general population including those people who do not routinely come into direct contact with police officers? This paper presents the findings from a quasi-randomised experiment conducted on population representative samples in seven London wards that assessed the impact of a leaflet drop on public perceptions of policing. The results provide strong evidence of an improvement in overall confidence, and in perceptions of police–community engagement, specifically. The leaflets also appear to have had a buffering effect against declines in public assessments of police effectiveness. The findings support the idea that public trust and confidence can be enhanced by direct police communication of this type.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in British Journal of Criminology following peer review. The version of record Hohl, K., Bradford, B. & Stanko, E. (2010). Influencing trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police: results from an experiment testing the effect of leaflet-drops on public opinion. British Journal of Criminology, 50(3), pp. 491-513. doi: 10.1093/bjc/azq005 is available online at: doi: 10.1093/bjc/azq005
Publisher Keywords:	trust and confidence, police communication, quasi-randomized experiment
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs > Sociology & Criminology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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