Attitudinal differences between Taiwanese and American police officers

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare attitudinal differences between Taiwanese and US police officers.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper studies interview and survey data collected from 288 officers in two Taiwanese departments and 638 officers in two US departments to assess police officers' role orientations and their attitudes toward aggressive law enforcement, legal restrictions, and citizen support. Mean comparison and multivariate regression were conducted to examine variation in officers' attitudes across countries.

Findings

The paper finds Taiwanese police officers differ significantly from their US counterparts in all attitudinal scales. Compared to US officers, Taiwanese officers tend to have a broader role orientation, positive attitudes toward aggressive patrol, and negative attitudes toward legal restrictions and citizen support.

Research limitations/implications

The paper sees that future studies should analyze data collected from non‐English‐speaking countries in other regions. Future research should also collect data that reflect variation in economic and political developments. Multi‐level studies that incorporate both aggregate‐ and individual‐level predictors should be conducted to further broaden our understanding of officers' attitudes from an international and comparative perspective. More attitudinal dimensions should be considered in future research.

Practical implications

The papers implies that Taiwanese and US police administrators should continue to cultivate attitudinal propensities that echo the underlying values and principles of community policing. Police administrators, especially Taiwanese police managers, should seek ways to improve officers' negative attitudes toward citizens.

Originality/value

The research in this paper examines officers' perceptions of the police role, law enforcement, and citizens, which have rarely been analyzed in previous cross‐national studies. This study enhances our understanding of police job‐related attitudes under different social and cultural contexts.

Citation

Sun, I.Y. and Chu, D. (2006), "Attitudinal differences between Taiwanese and American police officers", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 190-210. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510610667628