An Exploratory Comparison of Policing Views Between Indian and U.S. College Students

While there is a large amount of research on public attitudes toward the police, far fewer studies have examined citizen’s views of the police in non-Western nations. Even less is known regarding Indian citizens’ perceptions of the police. Based on survey data collected from over 900 college students, this exploratory study compared and contrasted college students’ views of policing in India and the United States. The results uncovered both intranational and international differences in three areas of views of the police, including general satisfaction with the police, support for aggressive policing, and support for community policing. Indian students in general were less satisfied with the performance of the police; yet, more supportive of both aggressive policing and community policing than their U.S. counterparts. Perceptions of the police varied somewhat by gender, age, and academic level.

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