Policing Views From Around the Globe: An Exploratory Study of the Views of College Students From Bangladesh, Canada, Nigeria, and the United States

Abstract

Although many forces influence how the police operate and how the public views them, cross-national studies on attitudes of the police are rare; therefore, this exploratory study, which examined the views of trust in police and police civility among a convenience sample of 1,425 students from five universities in four different nations, was conducted. U.S. respondents had the highest views of trust in police and police civility, whereas Bangladeshi and Nigerian college students had the lowest levels; Canadian views were in between the other nations. Social perspectives, history of policing, and sociopolitical structure are salient factors that may contribute to differing views in different countries.