Citation

Gustin AC. J. Soc. Iss. 1975; 31(1): 211-215.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1975, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1540-4560.1975.tb00752.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Questions are raised about articles in this issue, specifically about the use of questionnaires in research on the police, the difficulties and shortcomings of survey research, a tendency to ignore the effects of training programs on the street experience. Training in race relations underestimates both minority prejudice against the police and some inherent conflicts between blacks and whites. In the question of police killings, the extreme difficulty of making split-second decisions to protect one's own life in a society that is positive about handguns needs to be considered as does the fact that one of the reasons police kill more than they are killed is simply their technical superiority in the use of guns. Police-community relations should deemphasize "show-biz" and turn to social advocacy by police jointly with community to solve the latter's problems.

Language: en