Regional inequality in citizens’ attitudes towards the police and the effect of stop‑and‑search

By Byeongjun Kim

 Most previous research on inequality in policing has been limited to race and gender. To widen the knowledge of inequality in policing, this study took note of the location as a novel domain based on varying crime rates by area. The data for the study were drawn from the Crime Survey for England and Wales in 2007–2008 and 2017– 2018. Also, it used the stop-and-search data from 2015 to 2018 and the key facts and fgures taken from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The study has been structured into two models. Model 1 examined if there are diferences between regions in citizens’ attitudes towards the police in England. It used one-way analysis of variance as a statistical technique and analysed the efect of the region (independent variable) of England on citizens’ attitudes towards the police (dependent variable). Model 2 analysed the efect of several factors: The stop-and-search rate, residential population, police ofce size, and budget on citizens’ attitudes towards the police to fnd causes of the diferences in the attitudes by region using simple linear regression. The study found that there were spatial diferences in citizens’ attitudes towards the police between regions. In addition, surprisingly, the stop-and-search per 1,000 people had a positive efect on citizens’ attitudes towards the police, which contrasted with previous research suggesting a negative efect of stop-and-search on public support. However, the other factors: Population, police ofce size, and budget did not afect citizens’ attitudes towards the police. In conclusion, there is regional inequality in public opinion of policing, and the public opinion of the police is positively afected by the number of police use of stop-and-search.

  Security Journal (2025) 38:56