This article was originally published in December 2017.
Life Course Centre Research Leader Professor Lorraine Mazerolle, Fellows Dr Renee Zahnow and Dr Rebecca Wickies , along with UQ colleague Professor Johnathan Corcoran, have recently published a new study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. In this paper they investigate how proximity to violence shapes perceptions of police effectiveness and confidence in police.
Their study used census and crime data of 148 neighbourhoods across Brisbane to understand how an individual’s confidence in police is related to the geographical proximity of recent violent events. The authors find that individuals living near to violent crime events report an increased confidence in police. The authors suggest that the increased confidence may occur when individuals have had the opportunity to see effective police responses to crime.
The authors suggest that further research could strengthen these findings, and develop a deeper understanding of how active police presence in high crime areas serves to reduce residents’ anxieties about crime.
You can find their paper, here.