Policing and the problem of trust

In a sociological perspective trust is considered an essential component of all social relationships. The importance of trust in interpersonal relationships has been recognised also by criminologists: scholars of community policing and crime prevention believe that raising levels of trust between residents and police is crucial for the success of current crime control and security strategies. But how do police increase people’s trust? A document of the Danish Presidency of the Council of European Union (7521/03 ENFOPOL 19) on “Best practice concerning neighbourhood and community policing” shows that implementing strategies to enhance people’s trust in the police is a key task for Member States police and that the major strategy focuses on the physical proximity between police and community. Frequent foot, bicycle or motorised patrols make the public aware of a police presence and increase people’s trust and sense of security. But are we sure that more police visibility (police-citizens contacts and police presence) enhances people’s trust in the police? In tribute to Prof. Savona, this article aims to answer this question by reconsidering the results of my Ph.D. thesis tutored by Ernesto. Thanks to him, I could use data from a survey on residents’ attitudes towards the police held by Transcrime in April 2002 in Trentino, a Northern Italian province