Closing the Gap between the Police and the Public in Post‐Soviet Ukraine: A Bridge Too Far?

Abstract

Reforming the police is one of the biggest challenges facing post‐Soviet states and in particular reducing the gulf in levels of mistrust between the police and the public. Using quantitative and qualitative data collected from Ukraine, this paper looks at the attitudes of the public towards the police and seeks to review the obstacles to future closer collaboration between them. It highlights existing differences between demographic and socio‐economic groups in terms of their attitude and willingness to collaborate with the police in the future. It also looks at the explanations for both negative and positive attitudes towards the police expressed by the members of the public and at possible barriers to closer collaboration between them.