Journal of Criminal Justice, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp.

17-28, 1996
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PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF STATE POLICE:

A N ANALYSIS OF I N D I V I D U A L - L E V E L
A N D C O N T E X T U A L VARIABLES

M A R K E . CORREIA, M I C H A E L D . REISIG, a n d NICHOLAS P. LOVRICH

Department of Political Science

Washington State University
Pullman, Washington 99164-4880

ABSTRACT

Research focusing on citizens'perceptions o f police has been widespread at the local level," however,
little attention has been devoted to state policing organizations. This focus is particularly interesting con-
sidering the enhanced role state police agencies have assumed in recent years. This study analyzes cate-
gorical and ordered categorical attitudinal data collected f r o m a statewide sample in the State o f
Washington. Among the findings reported are significant gender differences and the observation that
the number o f citations an individual has received affects his or her perceptions o f state police.

INTRODUCTION ing organizations, such as the internal struc-

State police agencies traditionally have been
oriented toward traffic enforcement on state
highways; however, many contemporary state
police organizations have enlarged the scope
of agency operations to include a variety of ac-
tivities (U.S. Department of Justice, 1992).
Many local and county police organizations
rely on the state police for criminal history
records, crime evidence analysis, and joint op-
erations in task forces. Although a few exist-
ing studies on policing agencies have analyzed
public perceptions of state police (Hedgepeth,
1970; Carter, 1985), most research endeavors
have assessed different features of state polic-
ture of personnel (Weisheit, 1987), planning
and management techniques in use (Verbeck,
Marshall, and O'Toole, 1991; Movius, 1988),
training programs (Edwards, 1993), adminis-
trative decision-making models (Raub, 1988),
and assessments of services (Finn and McGillis,
1990). Despite the number and range of such
studies and the importance of public contact
and cooperation in performing police work ef-
fectively (Hahn, 1971), little empirical re-
search has investigated the consequences of
expanded state police functions in a system-
atic way (Preiss and Ehrlich, 1958; Gourley,
1966).
By analyzing the public's perception of

17
18 M.E. CORREIA, M. D. REISIG, and N. P. LOVRICH
state police in a geographically heterogenous
state (i.e., mixed urban, suburban, and rural
settings) using individual-level and contextual
variables employed in past research (Decker,
1981), this study attempts to provide impor-
tant information that will help to develop po-
licing policy that facilitates the building of a
cooperative relationship between the public
and law enforcement. Further, in measuring
levels of citizen satisfaction with police, this
study indirectly assesses individual perceptions
concerning the legitimacy and authority of
state government (Benson, 1981:46).
Individual-Level Variables
Of the individual-level variables used to an-
alyze citizen perceptions of police, race con-
sistently has been shown to be a powerful
indicator. Many studies have revealed that
Caucasians tend to hold more positive views
of the police when compared to non-Cauca-
sians (Smith and Hawkins, 1973). Hadar and
Snortum (1975) revealed important value dif-
ferences showing that African Americans and
Hispanics were more dissimilar in values from
the police than Caucasians. In an analysis of
Hispanic citizens in the State of Texas, Carter
(1985) found that Hispanics' expectations of
police performance were not being met. He ar-
gued that these perceptions are a product of
ineffective communication, cultural conflict,
and perceptions of discrimination.
Although race and ethnicity are important
factors, their influence may be more complex
than originally thought. For example, Jacob
(1971) revealed considerable variation across
different ethnic groups (e.g., African Ameri-
can and Hispanic). These and other findings
have led some to suggest that ethnicity is
merely an indicator of neighborhood social-
ization (Dunham and Alpert, 1988). Nonethe-
less, others maintain that differences in race
result because minorities have a higher num-
ber of negative contacts with the police rela-
tive to Caucasians (Gaines, Kappeler, and
Vaughn, 1994). Overall, numerous studies
have revealed that Caucasians tend to view the
police more positively when compared to mi-
nority groups (see also Campbell and Schu-
man, 1972; Furstenberg and Wellford, 1973).
To date, research has indicated a positive
relationship between age and attitudes toward
police. More specifically, young people appear
to be less satisfied than their adult counterparts
(Hadar and Snortum, 1975; Walker et al.,
1972). In one of the only comprehensive anal-
yses focusing on state police, Preiss and
Ehrlich (1958:130) found "a direct, almost lin-
ear relationship between age and the relative
favorableness of image." Wilson (1985) argues
that age may be more of a determinant of at-
titudes than ethnicity, gender, or socialization.
Others note, however, that while age may be
related to individual perceptions, the relation-
ship is unstable (Smith and Hawkins, 1973).
Although full consensus has yet to be
reached, there appears to be reasonable em-
pirical support for the relationship between
age and attitudes toward police. One explana-
tion offered for this relationship suggests that
younger individuals tend to value their free-
dom while other age groups are more security-
and safety-oriented (Gaines, Kappeler, and
Vaughn, 1994:343). Further, since younger
people, especially those between eighteen and
twenty-five years of age, are responsible for
a disproportionate amount of crime (Sagi and
Wellford, 1968; Wellford, 1973), these differ-
ences may be because younger people are in-
creasingly likely to have more negative contacts
with police.
Past research has found the variables gen-
der and education to be unimportant factors
in the assessment of attitudes of police. Con-
cerning gender, Hadar and Snortum (1975) ar-
gue that although some differences between
males and females existed regarding law en-
forcement policies, perceptions of the police
tended to be very similar. Preiss and Ehrlich
(1958) found some gender differences, and
concluded that women tend to hold an ideal-
ized image of the police (i.e., service oriented)
while men tend to view police as primarily law
enforcement oriented. Although some have
found that younger men tend to hold the most
negative attitudes (Wilson, 1985), in general,
findings reveal little difference between men
 Public Perceptions of State Police
and womens' perceptions (Winfree and Grif-
fiths, 1977).
Contextual Variables
The nature of prior experiences with police
has an important impact on an individual's
perception of police. The salience of this fac-
tor was highlighted by Mastrofski (1981), who
called for the inclusion of all possible clientele
when evaluating police services. In one of the
earliest examinations of public attitude phe-
nomena, Wirths (1958:52) noted the impor-
tance of police-citizen contacts by suggesting
that police officers "mold public attitudes." It
is important to note, of course, that police-
citizen contacts differ significantly in charac-
ter; voluntary contacts (e.g., calls for service)
versus involuntary contacts (e.g., traffic cita-
tions) generate different consequences (Bercal,
1970). Bordua and Tift (1971) found that
those individuals who experienced involuntary
contact were more likely to hold lower evalu-
ations of the police than those individuals who
initiated contact by requesting service. Preiss
and Ehrlich (1958) found that individuals who
did not come into contact with police tended
to hold more favorable perceptions than those
who had limited contact. The authors also
found that those citizens who had numerous
negative contacts tended to have more favor-
able perceptions than those with only some
negative contact. More recent research chal-
lenges this finding from the late 1950s.
Carter (1985) found that as the number of
contacts with police increased, regardless of
the nature of that contact, public satisfaction
decreased. Beyond mere contact, Dean (1980)
argues that the degree of satisfaction experi-
enced with the contact is important in deter-
mining an individual's attitude toward the
police. Dean (1980) found that those citizens
who viewed their contacts with the police as
unfavorable tended to give the police low over-
all evaluations. In contrast, those citizens who
viewed their encounters favorably tended to
give the police high overall evaluations.
In sum, the citizen's perception of his or her
contact with the police has been shown to be
19
related to his or her attitude toward the po-
lice. Radelet and Carter (1994:206) note that
the "biggest conflict between the police and the
public occurs in the enforcement of traffic
laws." They further argue that this type en-
counter usually results in negative attitudes to-
ward the police (see also Vedder and Keller,
1965). Smith and Hawkins (1973) found that
receiving a traffic citation was not a signifi-
cant determinant. The authors concluded that
the experience during an encounter was more
important than the initiation of contact.
Following a review of the literature, it is
concluded that the most powerful individual-
level variables are most likely ethnicity and
age, while the relationships concerning gender
and education are problematic. Beyond these
individualqevel variables, the type of contact
and the experience (i.e., negative or positive)
surrounding the contact are important. Simply
put, those citizens with negative or involun-
tary contacts are more likely to hold negative
perceptions of police, while positive encounters
have little effect on enhancing one's attitude)
METHODS
The results of a statewide random sample
of 892 households, a sample that is represen-
tative of the age, ethnicity, and class character-
istics of the statewide population, are reported
here. Dillman's (1978) Total Design Method
was the approach of data collection employed
in this study. This process entails a pretesting
of the survey instrument, use of appropriate
graphics, and repeated mailings to nonrespon-
dents (four contacts per respondent). Citizens
were surveyed in three mailing waves (and one
telephone follow-up) over a four-month pe-
riod during the fall of 1993, resulting in a re-
sponse rate of 56 percent.
Due to the dichotomous nature of the en-
dogenous variable employed in this survey (i.e.,
positive versus less favorable perceptions of
state police), log linear analysis (LOGIT) was
employed using maximum likelihood estima-
tion (MLE). Logit has been shown to be ap-
propriate for categorical data analysis (Agresti,
20 M.E. CORREIA, M. D. REISIG, and N. P. LOVRICH
1990) and offers several advantages over tradi-
tional linear regression analysis. For example,
m a n y of the requirements for linear analysis
(e.g., normal distributions, interval measures)
cannot be met when using categorical data
(Aldrich and Nelson, 1984). The use of logit,
in comparison to linear regression, provides
a rigorous means of deriving the most effi-
cient estimates when the independent variables
are both categorical and ordered categorical. 2
T-tests were employed to assess the signifi-
cance of the individual variables within the
models and to reveal whether or not a variable
adds any significant likelihood to the overall
model. 3 Additionally, the probabilities for sev-
eral variables within the logit models were cal-
culated to reveal important information. To
compare the individual models, the authors
use the G 2 statistic calculated by the G L I M
statistical package. 4
The dependent variable measured the atti-
tude that an individual holds toward the state
police. After reading the mission statement,
respondents were asked to indicate their level
of agreement with the statement: "Overall, the
Washington State Patrol does a good job at
p e r f o r m i n g its mission. ''5 Originally, this
measurement incorporated a five-point Likert
scale. Due to the unequal distribution across
the five levels, however, it was necessary to
collapse those who strongly agree and agree
that the state police deserve a favorable over-
all rating into one category and the remaining
levels into a second category of less favorable
assessment. 6 This method allowed for an un-
biased analysis of the predictors of individual
attitudes toward the state police.
The predictor variables in this analysis in-
cluded those identified by previous studies
evaluating individual perceptions toward po-
lice. Past research has shown that age and
race/ethnicity are important indicators. Gen-
der also was included because Preiss and
Ehrlich (1958) found some variation in the at-
titudes men and women hold toward state po-
lice. Although education has been found to be
of little influence in attitudes toward city po-
lice, it was included in this study due to the
lack of research focusing on state police. 7
For this analysis, age was categorized as
follows: individuals 18-35, 36-50, 51-64, 65+
years of age, with 18-35 as the reference cat-
egory. 8 Educational level was dichotomized
into college graduates and non-college grad-
uates, with non-college graduates represent-
ing the reference category. Lastly, ethnicity
was dichotomized into Caucasian (reference
category) and non-Caucasian. Due to the low
percentage of African Americans and Hispan-
ics in this sample, it was necessary to collapse
all minority respondents (including Asians,
Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans) into
a single category. 9
Survey information also was collected con-
cerning whether or not the respondent had re-
ceived a warning or citation, the evaluative
context of the most recent such encounter, and
the number of citations an individual had re-
ceived over the last two years. To assess the
impact of receiving a warning rather than a ci-
tation, this variable was i n c l u d e d - with those
individuals having received a warning serving
as the reference category. Those individuals
who received a citation rather than a warning
were included in a variable concerning the
number of citations received in the last two
years, with no citations as the reference cat-
egory. Additionally, for those individuals who
received either a warning or a citation, a mea-
surement was included to assess whether or
not the officer was clear in his or her expla-
nation of the traffic enforcement encounter.
The reference category for this variable is
composed of those individuals who believed
the officer's explanation for citation (or warn-
ing) was clear (Table 1). Second, because sev-
eral authors have suggested that the way in
which an individual comes into contact with
the police is important in the development of
perceptions, it was necessary to differentiate
whether an individual was forced into contact
(e.g., traffic stop) or initiated the contact (e.g.,
call for assistance). Subsequently, both the
type of contact and the individual's perception
of that contact were investigated. 1
RESULTS
Three models were constructed to assess the
effects of the independent variables on percep-
 Public Perceptions of State Police 21

TABLE 1

VARIABLE CODING AND DESCRIPTIVESTATISTICS

Variable Categories Values N %

Dependent
Perception of state police Less favorable 0 123 13.8
Positive perception 1 769 86.2
Independent
Individual level
Ethnicity Caucasian 1 817 92.8
Non-Caucasian 2 63 7.2
Age 18 to 35 1 181 20.3
36 to 50 2 344 38.6
51 to 64 3 192 21.5
65+ 4 175 19.6
Gender Male 1 648 73.4
Female 2 235 26.6
Education Non-college degree 1 554 62.7
College degree 2 329 37.3
Housing Rent 1 226 25.6
Own 2 655 74.4
Contextual
Received warning Yes 1 411 67.3
No 2 200 32.7
Number of citations None 1 721 80.8
1 or2 2 159 17.8
3+ 3 12 1.3
Type of explanation of warning or citation Clear 1 535 92.6
Unclear 2 43 7.4
Treatment of individuals who initiated contact Very satisfied 1 208 58.9
Somewhat satisfied 2 109 30.8
Somewhat dissatisfied 3 22 6.2
Very dissatisfied 4 14 4.0
Treatment of individuals who received a citation Fair 1 330 74.2
Unfair 2 115 25.8

Note: N = 892; missing data are excluded from these analyses.

tion of state police. Described below is the
main effects model, as well as two interaction
models that were statistically significant when
compared to the main effects model. Compar-
isons were based on the scaled deviance ex-
plained and the number of degrees of freedom
lost. The best fit models were those that lost
a significant amount of scaled deviance rela-
tive to minimal losses in degrees of freedom,
yielding a significant G 2.
Main Effects Model
Many of the predictors in the main effects
model had significant T-values (see Table 2).
Though previous research has found that gen-
der is not an important variable in determin-
ing attitudes toward police, the present study's
findings suggest that gender is a highly signif-
icant factor; females had a significant likeli-
hood of having less favorable perceptions of
state police than males (T-value of 3.39). This
finding is consistent with Preiss and Ehrlich's
(1958) suggestion that men and women view
state police differently. It may be that gender
does not affect perceptions of police at the lo-
cal level, but it does, in fact, affect attitudes
at the state level. In terms of ethnicity, it was
found that non-Caucasians, relative to Cau-
casians, had a lower likelihood (T-value of
1.85) of positive perceptions. In combination,
these findings indicate that, in general, minor-
ities (i.e., women and ethnic minorities) have
a lower probability of having positive attitudes
toward the state police.
The data show that all age categories are
significant additions to the overall model
(T-values of 3.73, 3.44, and 2.96). Overall, it
22 M . E . CORREIA, M. D. REISIG, and N. P. LOVRICH

TABLE 2
LOGIT RESULTS FOR CITIZEN PERCEPTIONSOF STATE POLICE

Model Main Effects Interaction # 1 Interaction #2

Gender(2) .7816** -.7488** --.8037 **

(.2301) (.2353) (.2333
Age(2) 1.096"* 1.138* 1.188"*
(.2933) (.5709) (.2982
Age(3) 1.303** .0792 1.337"*
(.3779) (.5656) (.3814
Age(4) 1.075** 1.754 1.164"*
(.3624) (1.123) (.3636
Ethnicity(2) -.6658 -,7315* --.7207*
(,3598) (.3682) (.3666
Education(2) - , 1699 - . 1767 --.4586
(,2292) (.2335) (.6351
Housing(2) -.0612 - . 1006 --.0524
(.2828) (.2894) (,2684
Warning(2) .3269 .3149 ,3670
(.3256) (.3346) (.3310)
Number(2) -.3389 -.3565 --.2834
(,2861) (.2967) (.2910)
Number(3) -.6982 -.5072 --.7304
(.7394) (.7886) (.7557)
Explanation(2) - 1.150" - 1.146" --1,165"
(.4233) (.4438) (.4308)
Citation(2) - 1.246 ** -2.008 ** --1.295**
(.3444) (,5859) (.3513)
Initiation(2) -1.380** -1.373** --1.904**
(.3988) (.4037) (.5102)
Initiation(3) - 1.749 * - 1.777 * --2.420**
(.6179) (.6434) (.7464)
Initiation(4) -2,624 ** -3.259 ** --3.186**
(.6798) (,7561) (.7827)
Age(2) Initiation(2) .1803
(.8049)
Age(3) * Initiation(3) 3.463**
(1.121)
Age(4) * Initiation(4) .3696
(1.350)
Education(2) * Initiation(2) 1.298
(.8258)
Education(2) * Initiation(3) 2.237
(1.525)
Education(2) * Initiation(4) 8.022
(15.86)
Intercept 2.856 3.150 2.944
(.4545) (.5603) (.5283)
- 2 Log-likelihood 589.3 572.9 576.9

*p < .05; **p < .01,

Note: Standard error for each variable is presented in parentheses,

appears that all age groups have a high like-
lihood of positive perceptions of police when
compared to those eighteen to thirty-five years
of age; however, this likelihood decreases
somewhat as age increases. 1|
Most contextual variables were significant
additions to the model. Receiving an unclear
explanation appears to lower the likelihood of
a positive attitude toward the police (T-value
of 2.72), which suggests that the manner in
which the individual perceives himself or her-
self to be treated by the police significantly af-
fects his or her overall perception.
Though numerous studies have found that
 Public Perceptions of State Police 23

receiving a traffic citation will not affect an TABLE 3

individual's perception, this analysis shows PROBABILITY ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED
that as the number o f traffic citations in- CONTEXTUAL VARIABLESa
creases, the likelihood of positive perceptions Female/ Male~
of state police decreases. Those individuals who Male Female Minority Minority
received one or two citations have a higher Init (2) .814 .667 .509 .693
likelihood of less favorable perceptions of the (3) .752 .578 .508 .609
police than those who have not received a ci- (4) .550 .365 .410 .395
tation. In sum, negative contact with the po- Expl .847 .716 .565 .740
lice (e.g., receiving a traffic citation) decreases Cit .830 .698 .540 .720
an individual's perception of the state police. Num (2) .910 .850 .745 .860
(3) .890 .794 .710 .810
In terms of whether or not the contact was
voluntary or involuntary, the results show ap = exp(a)/(1 + exp(a)).
that, regardless of the type of initiation, un-
satisfactory treatment of the individual de-
creases the likelihood of positive perceptions considered, female minorities have lower
of the state police. For example, the voluntary probabilities of positive perceptions than do
initiation of contact and satisfactory treatment male minorities, with the exception of minor-
decreased the likelihood that an individual ity males who reported they were very dissat-
would have a positive attitude toward the po- isfied with the context of their encounter.
lice (T-value of 3.46). As the satisfaction of Concerning the clarity of explanation, female
the contact decreased, so did the probability minorities have the lowest probability of pos-
of a positive perception, with those individu- itive perceptions. With but a few exceptions
als who were most dissatisfied having the low- (e.g., the findings concerning women), the
est likelihood of positive perceptions of the variables within the main effects model yield
police. results that are consistent with the literature
For those individuals who received traffic pertaining to local police.
citations, whether or not they believed them-
selves to be treated fairly had a significant ef- Interaction Models
fect on their perception. Receiving a citation
and holding a perception of unfair treatment The addition of two-way interaction terms
resulted in a decreased probability of having shows that several variables were significant
a positive perception (T-value of 3.62). Taken additions to the main effects model. ~2 The
together, the above findings suggest that, re- model that fit the interaction of age and cita-
gardless of the way in which the contact oc- tion constitutes a significant addition to the
curred, the manner in which the individual was main effects model, and it produces some in-
treated is very important. It also appears that teresting results. Primarily, the interaction of
any type of citizen contact with the state po- age and the perception of unfair treatment
lice has the tendency to lower an individual's while receiving a traffic citation does not de-
perception. crease the probability of having positive per-
Probability estimates for contextual vari- ceptions. In fact, individuals in the fifty-one
ables offer some additional insight. One find- to sixty-four age category who reported hav-
ing shows that as an individual's satisfaction ing been treated unfairly while receiving a traf-
with the context of the initiation decreases, the fic citation had an increased probability of
probability of positive perceptions decreases positive perceptions toward the police (T-value
as well. Within this context, however, it is im- of 3.08). Interactions concerning the other two
portant to note that males always maintain age categories were not significant, but they
higher perceptions when compared to females, too were in a positive direction. This analysis
even when the probability of positive percep- of interaction effects indicates that, regardless
tion decreases (see Table 3). When ethnicity is of the perception of treatment received, as age
24 M . E . CORREIA, M. D. RE1SIG, and N. P. LOVRICH

TABLE 4

MODEL DIAGNOSTICS

Model
Model Fitted Marginals L2 P Comparison z~L2

1 WAR + EXPL + NUM + AGE + HOUS + EDU

+ GEN + ETHN + CIT + INIT 589.3
(867) .04
(Model 1 ) plus age x initiation 572.9 1 + 2 16.4*
(861) .007
(Model 1) plus education x initiation 576.9 1 + 3 12.4*
(863) .996

*p < .05.
Note: Degrees of freedom for each model are presented in parentheses.

increases so do positive perceptions of state
police. 13
The interaction between education and ini-
tiation (i.e., model 3) produced the best fit (see
Table 4). Although the fifty-one to sixty-four
age category was not significant in the previ-
ous model, this category becomes a significant
addition to the present model (T-value of
3.50). In terms of the interaction itself, it ap-
pears that an individual with a college degree
who initiates contact with the police and is sat-
isfied with that contact has a high probability
(T-value of 3.69) of having positive percep-
tions of the state police. This suggests that as
one's level o f education increases, he or she is
more likely to hold positive perceptions to-
ward the state police. This appears to be the
case to a point; however, when an individual
becomes very dissatisfied with the manner in
which he or she was treated, the importance
of age becomes secondary to the context of the
encounter. It is interesting to note that this is
the only case in which an individual's educa-
tion represents a significant addition to the
ond interaction model (i.e., model 3). Though
the probabilities of the individual-level vari-
ables are quite similar to those in the main ef-
fects model, several differences exist among
the contextual variables (Table 5). In particu-
lar, all of the probabilities concerning citizen
initiation and satisfaction with police contact
are lower in this model, with female minori-
ties generating the lowest probabilities in
nearly every category. For example, those fe-
male minorities who initiated contact and were
only somewhat satisfied with that encounter
had an extremely low probability of positive
perceptions ( p = .38). When minority females
reported they were dissatisfied with the con-
tact, the probability of positive perceptions de-
creased dramatically ( p = .14). As before,
minority females possess the lowest probabil-
ities of positive assessment of any gender/eth-
nic category, t4
TABLE 5

model. College educated individuals initiate PROBABILITY ESTIMATES FOR MODEL #3 a

contact with the police more frequently than Female/ Male/
those with less education. These citizens, how- Male Female Minority Minority
ever, appear to consider other factors more
Init (2) .739 .559 .381 .579
important to the contact (e.g., the outcome) (3) .628 .431 .269 .451
than their overall treatment. (4) .440 .260 .146 .276
Expl .856 .726 .563 .742
Probability Estimates for Model 3 Cit .839 .700 .531 .717
Num (2) .935 .865 .757 .874
The authors analyzed the probabilities of (3) .897 .804 .666 .817

the most important variables within the sec- ap = exp(a)/(1 + exp(a)).

 Public Perceptions of State Police
Model Comparison
Several consistencies exist across the three
models. The contextual variables initiation
and citation remained significant in the same
direction- more specifically, the more unsat-
isfied one is with the contact, the less likely he
or she is to have positive perceptions. Simi-
larly, clarity of the officer's explanation re-
mained significant across the three models.
Again, this finding indicates that officer con-
duct during the encounter is important. Ad-
ditionally, the number of traffic citations one
receives appears to decrease the likelihood of
a positive perception in all three models.
Therefore, one can conclude that the context
in which police-citizen contact takes place sig-
nificantly affects one's perception of the state
police.
Of the individual-level indicators, gender
and ethnicity were the only variables that were
significant additions in all three models. More-
over, the relative strength remained somewhat
constant: gender ranged in T-values from 2.96
to 3.45 and ethnicity ranged from 1.83 to 1.98.
The consistency of the effects of these two
variables suggests that they are important in-
dicators of one's perception toward the state
police. Further, one of the age variables
(namely, age [3]) appeared to be somewhat un-
stable, depending upon the interaction.
DISCUSSION
Before possible conclusions are discussed,
it is important to note a few limitations of this
research. First, this study only examines the
state policing organization of a single state;
consequently, broad inferences should be
drawn with caution. Second, since the variables
used in this study were adapted from research
focusing on local policing agencies, it is possible
that some important variables were inadver-
tently omitted from the present a n a l y s i s - a
potential shortcoming that future research on
state police may possibly uncover. Neverthe-
less, the preceding analysis provides a fair as-
semblage of interesting information some of
which supports existing research. For exam-
25
pie, it was revealed that ethnic minorities have
a lower probability of holding positive percep-
tions of police. Some contradictory results,
however, also were uncovered in this analysis.
In previous analyses, gender was found not to
have a significant effect on an individual's per-
ception of police. This study indicates, how-
ever, that female respondents are less likely
than their male counterparts to hold positive
perceptions toward state police.
Wilson (1985) contends that age is more of
a determinate than ethnicity and gender con-
cerning perceptions of police. These data do
not support Wilson's claim. In fact, this anal-
ysis is closely aligned with Smith and Hawkins
(1973) in that age appears to have an incon-
sistent effect on individual perceptions of po-
lice. Finally, contrary to the findings of Preiss
and Ehrlich (1958), the present study found
that an individual's level of education was not
a significant determinant in his or her percep-
tion of state police. While the earlier study
found that those individuals with an educa-
tional level lower than grade school or higher
than college had lower perceptions of the po-
lice, this analysis indicates that educational
level appears not to have a significant e f f e c t -
perhaps a result of the increased levels of ed-
ucation throughout the citizenry since the late
1950s.
Findings for contextual variables reveal that,
regardless of whether contact was voluntary
or involuntary, an individual's perception of
unsatisfactory or unfair treatment decreased
the probability of positive perceptions. Fur-
ther, an unclear explanation by police con-
cerning a citation or warning also decreased
the probability. This research suggests, then,
that there is an important relationship between
the manner in which citizens are treated and
positive perceptions toward state police.
These findings have many relevant policy
implications. One of the more important find-
ings in this study concerns the levels of posi-
tive perceptions toward state police held by
women and ethnic minorities. Some have
stated that attitudes toward the police are as-
sociated with attitudes toward legal and po-
litical systems (Albrecht and Green, 1977).
Similarly, Chackerian (1974) argues that high
26 M . E . C O R R E I A , M. D. REISIG, and N. P. L O V R I C H
evaluations o f police are related to perceived
levels of government access (i.e., high levels
o f access equate to high evaluations of police).
Although avenues of access have improved in
the last half century, in a historical context,
women and minorities have and continue to
possess (although to a lesser degree) limited ac-
cess to government. Further, because the po-
lice are the "states most visible and obtrusive
agents of control" (Benson, 1981:46), it may
be concluded that the low perceptions held by
women and ethnic minorities are not necessar-
ily reflective of police, but are connected to the
larger political structure and the broader so-
cial forces surrounding government.
With this in mind, it appears as though any
policing policy implemented on behalf of state
police can, at best, have only an incremental
effect on the perceptions of ethnic minorities
and women. In other words, the most prom-
ising positive change in these groups' percep-
tions toward state police will most likely result
not from changes in state policing policies, but
from broader and continued social change.
The importance of incremental change by
way of reforms in policing policy should not
be discounted. For example, a number of po-
licing organizations throughout the country
have, in recent years, undertaken the task of
racial and gender sensitivity training as part
of diversity enhancement and support efforts.
These programs may produce some positive
results. This research shows that the context
of an encounter with state police is extremely
important. Accordingly, such training may
produce some increased levels of positive per-
ception of police and enhance citizen coop-
eration in performing police functions within
those groups. It is the authors' contention,
however, that this change will likely be
l i m i t e d - t h o u g h not insignificant.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A n earlier version of this study was presented at the
1995 A n n u a l Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Jus-
tice Sciences in Boston, Massachusetts. The authors would
like to thank David Carter and Jessie Tzeng for their help-
ful comments on earlier drafts of this article.
NOTES
1. The literature concerning local police also has
shown neighborhood culture to be an important determi-
nant for public attitudes of police. This variable, how-
ever, was not deemed suitable for an analysis of state
police by the authors.
2. For a more complete discussion concerning the ad-
vantages of logit analysis in social science research, please
refer to Roncek (1991) and Demaris (1992).
3. In order to test if the missing data had a signifi-
cant effect, each variable contained a missing category.
These categories were included in the analysis to assess
their likelihood. In all cases, the missing categories were
not significant.
4. The G 2 statistic, as calculated by the GLIM statis-
tical package, is equivalent to the scaled deviance o f the
model. In order to designate the better model, it is neces-
sary to consider the decrease in the G 2 relative to the loss
in degrees of freedom. The better model will be the one
that has a significant decrease in the G 2 while losing only
minimal degrees of freedom.
5. The Washington State Patrol mission statement
reads: "The Washington State Patrol shall serve the pub-
lic by providing assistance, coordination, and delivery of
law enforcement and support services for the safety and
protection of people and property" (Correia and Reisig,
1994:1).
6. The less favorable category consisted of those re-
spondents who answered "undecided," "disagree," or
"strongly disagree."
7. The survey did not include an accurate and direct
measure of socioeconomic status (SES) other than for-
mal education. In previous surveys conducted in this state,
an SES (occupation and income) measure was found to
be unrelated to perceptions of state police.
8. The methodology employed for this survey did not
include individuals younger than eighteen years of age.
Age categories were collapsed to provide a more equal
distribution.
9. Although a separate analysis of each ethnic group
is preferred, the low percentage of ethnic minority respon-
dents did not allow for an adequate analysis. Before col-
lapsing the categories, however, each individual group was
included in the model and, in all cases, the results were
not significant.
10. For those individuals who initiated contact, a four-
point Likert scale was used to assess their satisfaction with
that encounter, with very satisfied representing the ref-
erence group. A dichotomous measure was employed to
assess the individual's perception of fairness in his or her
treatment in receiving a citation, with fair treatment used
as the reference category.
11. Findings for the age variable, however, are less con-
clusive than the results for ethnicity and gender. To gain
a full understanding of the dynamics of the effects o f age
on the dependent variable, individuals younger than eigh-
teen years of age should be included in the analysis. Due
 Public Perceptions of State Police
to sampling limitations, however, these individuals were
excluded.
12. Since the potential for multicollinearity was a con-
cern, several diagnostic tests were conducted before the
data was collapsed. Importantly, the Durbin-Watson test
showed that multicollinearity was not a problem (2.00).
13. Interestingly, the age variable within the model is
inconsistent when compared to the main effects m o d e l -
that is, the 51-64 age category becomes insignificant, while
the other two categories remain significant. This may be
occurring due to the significance of that variable when
interacted with citation. It may be the case that this in-
teraction is reducing the significance of the variable within
the main effects model. In terms of the other variables,
those that were significant in the main effects model also
were significant in this model.
14. Since hierarchical logit analysis was employed, sev-
eral other models were tested for significance, including
two two-way interactions. The results are not reported in
this analysis because the models did not provide any ad-
ditional insight into citizen perceptions of state police.
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