Public trust in the police and it's determinantes

Citizens' trust in the police is very important and topical issue not only in Lithuania, but also in the world. The press regularly publishes articles about police treatment of citizens, police officers constantly monitored and commented on each action performed. An increased focus on police leads to think about how police officers should behave in public that they would become the most trusted individuals in society. Studies about public confidence in the police are very frequent in Lithuania, but they do not sufficiently focus on key factors determining citizen’s trust in the police. It is essential to consider the police possibilities to implement these factors in order to maximize trust in society. The aim of this article – to analyze the concept of trust and its relationship with the organization; to examine the dynamics of Lithuania‘s people confidence in the police; to conduct the research on confidence in the police, to identify the main elements which determine it and provide the suggestions how to increase the trust in the police. Since the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania police organization went through huge changes in order to respond to the needs of society. After the Lithuanian police began to focus on the citizens and their expectations the public trust in police since 2008 was gradually growing, however, some problems remained unsolved. Results of the empirical research show that 79 percent of respondents tend to trust the Lithuanian police. The evaluation of the officer’s behavior, expertise and efforts to provide necessary assistance for citizens is high enough. Results of the study revealed the main factors that citizens consider having the greatest impact on confidence in the police. In the first place was the honesty of officers. 47 percent of respondents are inclined to believe that police officers are corrupt, but even 61 percent of the respondents indicated that the same phenomenon had never ever come across. The problems of the Lithuanian police were indicated: corruption, excessive response time to calls and poor remuneration of officials for their hard and dangerous work. As well as the greater part of the citizens tend to believe that the number of police officers assign to ensure public safety is not sufficient. Both the officers and the citizen’s attitude towards the police officers’ salaries overlap - the majority of Lithuanian residents think the salaries of policemen are insufficient. This should be a sufficient basis for the authorities to make the right and informed decisions on this issue.Piliečių pasitikėjimas policija labai svarbi ir aktuali tema ne tik Lietuvoje, bet ir visame pasaulyje. Spaudoje nuolat publikuojami straipsniai apie policijos pareigūnų elgesį su piliečiais, pareigūnai stebimi ir komentuojamas kiekvienas jų netinkamai atliktas veiksmas. Piliečių pasitikėjimo policija Lietuvoje tyrimai atliekami dažnai, tačiau juose nepakankamai dėmesio skiriama pagrindiniams veiksniams, lemiantiems piliečių pasitikėjimą policija bei pareigūnų galimybėms įgyvendinti jiems visuomenės keliamus uždavinius. Šiame straipsnyje siekiama atskleisti Lietuvos piliečių pasitikėjimo policija ypatumus, išskirti jį lemiančius veiksnius ir pateikti pasiūlymus, kaip būtų galima padidinti pasitikėjimą pareigūnais. Tuo tikslu buvo atliktas piliečių pasitikėjimo policija tyrimas ir apibrėžti veiksniai, lemiantys piliečių pasitikėjimą policijos organizacija. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad 79 procentai apklaustųjų yra linkę pasitikėti Lietuvos policija, o pagrindiniai veiksniai lemiantys jų pasitikėjimą yra policijos pareigūnų sąžiningumas, pagarbus elgesys ir kompetentingumas. Piliečių nuomone, siekiant padidinti pasitikėjimą didžiausią dėmesį reikėtų skirti pareigūnų korupcijos klausimui spręsti. Taip pat akcentuojama, kad nepakankamas pareigūnų uždarbis gali būti vienas iš veiksnių skatinančių korupcinius nusikaltimus