The Impact of Foot Patrol on Black and White Perceptions of Policing
Robert C. Trojanowicz
Dennis W. Banas
National Center for Community Policing
School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal opportunity institution.
This publication was made possible by a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to the School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University. The information contained herein represents the views and conclusions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Mott Foundation, its trustees, or officers.
Copyright © 1985
The National Neighborhood Foot Patrol Center
The disparity between minority and majority opinions of the police has resisted the manipulations of research design. No matter how social scientists construct comparisons, minorities articulate relative discontent with police performance.(3) So consistent have been the research results that the causes of minority attitudes have become an item of exploration.
Of the variables which have emerged as significant in determining minority perceptions of the police, "neighborhood culture" predominates.(4) In effect, minority neighborhoods generate and reinforce negative attitudes based, in part, on the persistence of involuntary interactions with police. Such interactions are less a function of police aggression than a residual of preventive patrol, with its emphasis on professional aloofness, and a symptom of alienation from the normative behaviors of those being policed.(5) Within the context of the neighborhood ". . . personal contact with police is a more significant determinant of general satisfaction than all other variables (race, gender, age, socio-economic status, etc.) combined."(6) It would seem that "broad-based programs which bring together citizens and police officers acting in an official capacity would seem to have more positive impact than generally assumed."(7)
The present research explores the impact of community policing on minority and white perceptions of police performance. It uses the Neighborhood Foot Patrol Program of Flint, Michigan, as its data base. The Flint program is unique in that it consciously attempted to integrate police into neighborhoods and to incorporate citizens into police decision-making processes.
Flint's Neighborhood Foot Patrol Program was unique in a variety of ways. It emerged from an initiative which integrated citizens into the planning and implementation process through citywide neighborhood meetings in 1977 and 1978. It attempted to ameliorate three distinct problems: (1) the absence of comprehensive neighborhood organizations and services, (2) the lack of citizen involvement in crime prevention, and (3) the depersonalization of interactions between officers and residents. The program began in 1979 with 22 foot patrol officers assigned to 14 experimental areas which included about 20 percent of the city's population. The activity and efforts of the foot officers addressed seven basic goals:(8)
The foot patrol officers reconciled their role with the reality of policing; they not only provided full law enforcement services, as did their motorized counterparts, but they made a conscious effort to focus on the social service aspects of their job, bringing problems to a resolution. Since they patrolled and interacted in the same areas day after day, week after week they developed a degree of intimacy with residents which translated into an effective cooperative relationship.
The Flint Police Department's two forms of patrol operated on the basis of relatively distinct organizational objectives and managerial patterns. Foot officers mobilized citizens in order to provide a matrix within which communities could identify and deal with many of their own problems, including -- but not exclusively -- crime. With the advice, consent, and direction of citizens, foot officers targeted, addressed, and resolved specific community-level concerns -- juvenile alienation, victimization of the aged, neighborhood safety and security, and so on. By comparison, motor officers continued to adhere to the narrowly oriented preventive patrol strategy of "crime control," reacting to events after they occurred.
Motor patrol officers still perceived social service as an annoying interlude between periods of "real" police activity -- pursuit, investigation, arrest; foot officers enjoyed a comprehensive, integrated and realistic sense of their role in their emphasis on social service as part of community-based crime control.(9) Whereas motor officers were subject to alternating bouts of inactivity and intense, frenzied periods, foot officers were able to maintain a consistent level of activity. During "down" periods, motor officers did not utilize their skills on a proactive basis; foot officers not only exercised their proactive skills continuously, but they developed and nurtured new talents in their community organizer, linkage and catalyst capacities.
The results of the Flint experiment have been reported elsewhere(10) Briefly, the Neighborhood Foot Patrol Program reduced crime rates by 8.7 percent. More dramatic were the reductions in calls for service, which decreased by 42 percent over the period 1979-1982. Citizens began handling minor problems themselves or the foot officer acted as mediator on an informal basis, negating the need for a formal complaint.
Although the impact on calls for service alone was significant, additional evidence indicated that citizens felt safer, were satisfied with the program, felt that it had impacted the crime rates, and that it had improved police/community relations. There was much closer interaction between the foot officers and citizens. Over 33 percent of neighborhood residents knew their foot patrol officers by name, and 50 percent of the rest could provide accurate descriptions of foot officers. Citizens also felt that foot officers were more effective than motor officers in encouraging crime reporting, in involving citizens in neighborhood crime prevention efforts, in working with juveniles, in encouraging citizen self-protection, and in following up on complaints.(11) The foot patrol officers themselves felt well integrated into the communities they served, minimizing their sense of isolation, alienation, and fear. The foot patrol experiment was so successful that 22 foot areas were added to the original 14 in 1981 (total of 36), and the citizens of Flint passed a tax millage increase in August 1982 which extended the program to the entire city. Presently there are 64 foot beats.
Research Design and Methods
The present research is based upon interviews
conducted in 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1983. It attempts to describe the differences
(and similarities) between black and white perceptions of policing within
foot patrol areas. It also attempts to illustrate the impact of foot patrol
on such perceptions.(12)
The 1979 data are based upon a sample of residents drawn from the original 14 patrol areas, as are the 1981 data. The 1982 data are based upon a sample drawn from 36 foot patrol areas; the 1983 data, from 64 areas. As the foot patrol program expanded, the sample size also changed. The successive samples were drawn randomly.
Eighty-four (84) residents constituted the original 1979 sample. Forty-seven were white; 34, black; and 3, Hispanic. Because the Hispanic population of Flint is relatively small and does not possess identifiable neighborhood boundaries, Hispanics and blacks were collapsed into one group for analytical purposes in subsequent years.
In 1979 the researchers posed many questions to the interviewees. Two were particularly relevant to the present research: (1) In your neighborhood, how well does the motor patrol perform its duties? (2) To what extent does the Flint Police Department need improvement? Residents responded to these questions on a Likert-type scale. On the first question, a response of very well received a 5; average, 3; not at all well, 1. On the second question, a response of a great extent received a 5; some extent, 3; not at all, 1.
In 1979 questions were designed to measure the extent to which the residents of Flint exhibited perceptual patterns similar to those found in the national Crime Surveys (Table 1). They were posed at the point at which foot patrol was originally being experimentally implemented in order to provide a comparative longitudinal perspective in evaluating the impact of the new program. Responses in 1979 reflected the community's perception of policing prior to the foot patrol experiment.
Hypothesizing that since foot patrol integrates police into neighborhoods and involves citizens in the development of the officers' role and function in a formal, official context, black and white perceptions of foot officers would be more consistent with one another than they traditionally were where preventive patrol predominated. In effect, the researchers expected to see blacks become as favorably disposed to the police as whites within the context of the foot patrol program.
The interview questions posed to residents in 1981, 1982 and 1983 were designed to measure the community's assessment of foot patrol in order to discern differences (or similarities) between blacks and whites. The relevant questions were:
Results
As mentioned earlier, the National Crime Surveys
found that, although citizens were generally satisfied with police performance,
blacks consistently rated the police less favorably than whites. Table
1 illustrates the differences between black and white perceptions of policing
found in the surveys.
The 1979 interviews revealed that the Flint residents did not deviate from the national patterns. The mean for whites assessing the performance of motor patrol was 3.77; for blacks, 2.76. The difference between the two groups was 20.2 percent. Relative to the extent to which the Flint Police Department needed improvement, the mean for whites was 2.83 and blacks 3.49, resulting in a 13.2 percent difference between the two groups. The results of the two underlined the fact that whites perceived police more favorably than blacks at the point at which foot patrol was being implemented.
Evaluation of Police Performance
Don't No Estimated Good Average Poor Know Answer Number
1972/73Surveys 42% 37% 13% 7% 0% (14,621,640) 1975 Surveys 40% 41% 12% 7% 0% (15,386,335) 1975 Surveys Race: White 47% 37% 9% 7% 0% (10,872,109) Black/other 24% 50% 19% 7% 0% (4,514,226)
The interviews conducted in 1981, 1982 and 1983 showed a dramatic decrease in the differences between black and white perceptions of one form of policing, foot patrol. On the first question -- Are you satisfied with foot patrol in your area? -- the variations between blacks and whites over the three-year period range from .7 percent in 1982 to 3.5 percent in 1981 (Table 2). The great majority of all respondents was satisfied over the three-year period with the most positive evaluation being in 1981.
On the second question -- Has the foot patrol program lowered the crime rate in your neighborhood?--the variations between blacks and whites range from .6 percent in 1983 to 3.2 percent in 1982 (Table 3). Again the great majority of all respondents answered in the affirmative with 1981 again receiving the most positive evaluations.
BASED ON: YES NO VARIATION
1981 67 Blacks 53 (79.1%) 14 (20.9%) (176) 3.5% 109 Whites 90 (82.6%) 19 (17.4%)
1982 269 Blacks 178 (66.2%) 91 (33.8%) (592) .7% 323 Whites 216 (66.9%) 107 (33.1%)
1983 155 Blacks 122 (78.7%) 33 (21.3%) (368) 2.2% 213 Whites 163 (76.5%) 50 (23.5%)
On the third question -- Has the foot patrol program increased the safety of women, the elderly, and young people? -- the variations between blacks and whites range from 2.8 percent in 1982 to 4.9 percent in 1983 (Table 4). The great majority of all respondents answered in the affirmative with over 80 percent yes responses for both groups in 1981.
BASED ON: YES NO VARIATION
1981 54 Blacks 40 (74.0%) 14 (26.0%) (140) 2.7% 86 Whites 66 (76.7%) 20 (23.3%)
1982 238 Blacks 148 (62.2%) 90 (37.8%) (487) 3.2% 249 Whites 147 (59.0%) 102 (41.0%)
1983 132 Blacks 91 (68.9%) 41 (31.1%) (274) .6% 142 Whites 97 (68.3%) 45 (31.7%)
BASED ON: YES NO VARIATIONOn the fourth question -- Do you feel safer because of the foot patrol program? -- the variations between blacks and whites range from 1.8 percent in 1981 to 8.5 percent in 1983 (Table 5). Although the majority of the two groups responded positively, the 8.5 percent was the largest percentage difference of all the items.
1981 51 Blacks 43 (84.3%) 8 (15.7%) (132) 4.6% 81 Whites 72 (88.9%) 9 (11.1%)
1982 261 Blacks 191 (73.2%) 70 (26.8%) (553) 2.8% 292 Whites 222 (76.0%) 70 (24.0%)
1983 165 Blacks 126 (76.4%) 39 (23.6%) (372) 4.9% 207 Whites 148 (71.5%) 59 (28.5%)
BASED ON: YES NO VARIATIONBoth groups, however, were consistent in their overall ratings, feeling foot patrol was more effective on items A, B, D, E, and F. Only on item D in 1983 did whites rate motor patrol as more effective.
1981 66 Blacks 54 (81.8%) 12 (18.2%) (181) n the respondents were asked to rate the effectiveness of motor vs. foot patrol on six items, there were greater variations, with a low of .3 percent difference on subquestion C in 1983 to a high of 15.6 percent on subquestion A in 1983 (Table 6).
On item C, responding to complaints, both groups rated motor patrol more effective all three years. This was because of the greater mobility of motor patrol.
Table 6
On the following items state which is more effective,
motorized patrol or foot patrol?
A) Which is more effective
in preventing crime, MP or FP?
B) Which is more effective in encouraging citizen protection of themselves, MP or FP?
BASED ON: FP MP VARIATION
1981 62 Blacks 48 (77.4%) 14 (22.6%) (192) 9.7% 130 Whites 88 (67.7%) 42 (32.3%)
1982 285 Blacks 202 (70.9%) 83 (29.1%) (643) 8.7% 362 Whites 225 (62.2%) 137 (37.8%)
1983 222 Blacks 153 (68.9%) 69 (31.1%) (509) 15.6% 287 Whites 153 (53.3%) 134 (46.7%)
C) Which is more effective in responding to complaints, MP or FP?
BASED ON: FP MP VARIATION
1981 58 Blacks 54 (93.1%) 4 (6.9%) (187) .9% 129 Whites 119 (92.2%) 10 (7.8%)
1982 309 Blacks 269 (87.1%) 40 (12.9%) (689) 2.4% 380 Whites 340 (89.5%) 40 (10.5%)
1983 226 Blacks 208 (92.0%) 18 (8.0%) (575) 8.4 299 Whites 250 (83.6%) 49 (16.4%)
D) Which is more effective in investigating the circumstances of crime, MP or FP?
BASED ON: FP MP VARIATION
1981 58 Blacks 22 (37.9%) 36 (62.1%) (188) .6% 130 Whites 50 (38.5%) 80(61.5%)
1982 306 Blacks 133 (43.5%) 173 (56.5%) (678) 9.9% 372 Whites 125 (33.6%) 247 (66.4%)
1983 229 Blacks 71 (31.0%) 158 (67.0%) (538) .3% 309 Whites 95 (30.7%) 214 (69.3%)
E) Which is more effective in working with juveniles, MP or FP?
BASED ON: FP MP VARIATION
1981 55 Blacks 29 (52.7%) 26 (47.3%) (173) 7.5% 118 Whites 71 (60.2%) 47 (39.8%)
1982 270 Blacks 167 (61.9%) 103 (38.1%) (585) 5.1% 315 Whites 179 (56.8%) 136 (43.2%)
1983 220 Blacks 123 (55.9%) 97 (44.1%) (489) 11.7% 269 Whites 119 (44.2%) 150 (55.8%)
F) Which is more effective in following up on complaints, MP or FP?
BASED ON: FP MP VARIATION
1981 63 Blacks 53 (84.1%) 10 (15.9%) (194) 8.3% 131 Whites 121 (92.4%) 10 (7.6%)
1982 311 Blacks 279 (89.7%) 32 (10.3%) (701) 4.1% 390 Whites 366 (93.8%) 24 (6.2%)
1983 232 Blacks 210 (90.5%) 22 (9.5%) (551) 1.5% 319 Whites 284 (89.0%) 35 (11.0%)
Of the 18 cells for the 6 items, blacks were more positive than whites toward foot patrol in 12 cases. Even though foot patrol receives the higher rating from both groups, blacks are even more positive toward it.
BASED ON: FP MP VARIATION
1981 52 Blacks 39 (75.0%) 13 (25.0%) (161) 3.6% 119 Whites 85 (71.4%) 34 (28.6%)
1982 290 Blacks 208 (71.7%) 82 (28.3%) (634) 1.5% 344 Whites 252 (73.3%) 92 (26.7%)
1983 222 Blacks 149 (67.1%) 73 (32.9%) (494) 10.1% 272 Whites 155 (57.0%) 117 (43.0%)
Conclusions
The community policing program
in Flint, Michigan, improved police/community relations and reduced the
disparity in perceptions of police performance between blacks and whites.
In the national crime surveys of 1975, 47 percent of the whites rated police
performance as good; only 24 percent of the blacks gave police the same
rating, for a difference between the two groups of 23 percent. There was
a 10 percent difference between the two groups in the poor performance
rating with blacks being more negative. When Flint residents were used
as the sample, the range of difference between the two groups in 1979 was
from 13.2 percent to 20.2 percent, again with blacks more negative.
The greatest variation between blacks and whites in their perception of the performance of foot patrol was 8.5 percent with 11 of the 12 cells being under 5 percent, and 8 of the 12 cells under 3.6 percent.
Community policing, i.e., foot patrol in Flint, greatly reduced the black and white perceptual disparity of police performance. The residents were not only satisfied with the program, they felt they had input into the role of the officer and influence on both the priorities of policing and the behavior of the officer. In effect, they felt that they had increased their control over the direction and operation of the police department. The foot patrol officers themselves were responsive to community needs and sensitive to the "neighborhood culture." They were able to distinguish between the normative behavioral patterns prevalent in their beat areas and truly threatening, dangerous acts and people. As a consequence, the positive formal interactions between individual foot officers and individual citizens improved significantly. The foot officers, for example, became less prone than motor officers to conduct "pat-downs."
The success of the Neighborhood Foot Patrol Program in Flint was predicated entirely on its existence and integrity as a formal, concrete and genuine effort to address community problems. The program was least of all a public relations ploy. The degree to which blacks and whites perceived foot patrol in almost identical ways reflects the sincerity of the effort. It would be entirely safe to assume that if police administrators do not seriously value community policing, for whatever reason, blacks and whites would exhibit perceptual differences of policing once again.
There is some evidence that the positive impact of foot patrol is easily reversed. The 1982 millage which expanded foot patrol to the entire city of Flint called for the addition of 76 foot officers and supervisors to the Police Department's sworn officer ranks. There were 310 officers prior to the millage vote; there are now only 311. It would be expected that there would be at least 386 officers if the department received the same level of "regular" support in 1984 that it received in 1982, prior to the special millage. In effect, additional tax dollars did not purchase additional police services as intended. As a result, the Neighborhood Foot Patrol Program has not been able to continue the same intimate links with residents or to achieve its original articulated objectives. It may, understandably, be in jeopardy with voters when the millage is up for renewal in 1985.
ENDNOTES
National Center for Community Policing
School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University
560 Baker Hall East Lansing, MI 48824-1118
(517) 355-9648
http://www.ssc.msu.edu/~cj