Trust in the police - Looking at social capital and procedural justice in 27 European countries

Abstract

This study aims to find out what the contribution of the social capital theory and the procedural justice theory is on trust in the police, whilst considering contrasting crime rates in 27 different European countries. Using data from the fifth round of the European Social Survey, multiple hypotheses were tested through numerous regression analyses. Control variables focused on socio-demographics including age, gender, and education were added to examine whether any effects could have been influenced by these characteristics. The results of the regression analyses show no significant effect of social capital on the level of trust in the police. However, procedural justice did have a large significant effect on the level of trust in the police. Furthermore, it was found that procedural justice is, to a limited extent, extra important in countries with a high crime rate. Based on this, future research should focus on expanding the examination of the effects of procedural justice on trust in the police, especially in countries with a higher crime rate. The policy advice includes advice on how to incorporate procedural justice in the way the police execute their job, aiming to improve the trust citizens have in the police.