RT Article
T1 Declining Trends in Crime Reporting and Victims’ Trust of Police in the United States and Major Metropolitan Areas in the 21st Century
JF Journal of contemporary criminal justice
VO 40
IS 1
SP 138
OP 171
A1 Xie, Min
A2 Ortiz Solis, Veyli
A2 Chauhan, Preeti
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1878572407
AB Victims’ willingness to report crime and their opinions about the police are important indicators of police performance, police legitimacy, and trust in the justice system. This study examines two decades of trends in police notification and victims’ perceptions of the police in the United States and major metropolitan areas since 2000, using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). In contrast to previous studies indicating an increase in police notification in the 1980s and 1990s, the present study shows a progressive decline in police notification observed in the last two decades, especially since 2010. Furthermore, there has been a marked increase in victims’ mistrust of police responsiveness since the mid-2000s. Using multivariable regression models that control for potential changes in the characteristics of crime and survey methodology, we find that the victims’ rising distrust of the police is widespread in many metropolitan areas, in all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and especially so for victims of theft, burglary, and simple assault. In the discussion, we suggest that the changing policing strategies and the evolving economic, political, and social environments of the 21st century may help explain the trends identified by this research. Understanding victim reporting trends and victims’ opinions of the police may affect data and policy and help the justice system to better serve victims and enhance public safety.
K1 Crime trends
K1 Police Legitimacy
K1 Perceptions of police
K1 Police notification
K1 Crime reporting
DO 10.1177/10439862231190212