Community policing experience, public trust in the police, citizens’ psychological safety and community well-being in Ghana

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how community policing experience elicits public trust in the police, citizens’ psychological safety and community well-being in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachA cluster sampling technique was used in the selection of 474 community members, who answered questions relating to community policing experience, public trust in the police, citizens’ psychological safety and community well-being. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the relationships and effects of the hypothesized paths.FindingsThe findings showed that community policing experience was positively related to public trust in the police, citizens’ psychological safety and community well-being in Ghana.Research limitations/implicationsMediation does not fall within the scope of the current study; hence, issues of indirect effects among the variables were not examined. Nevertheless, future studies should consider investigating the phenomenon through mediation analysis.Practical implicationsThe study further highlights that probable negative consequences of divulging information to the police about potential or actual crime may hinder citizens from engaging with police. Hence, police administrators must find ways to conceal identities of whistle blowers on crime and its related issues, so they do not suffer any personal cost.Originality/valueIn this research, the academic scope of community policing was expanded by linking the concepts of public trust in police, citizens’ psychological safety and community well-being, which the study admits has been undertaken separately in empirical policing literature but not within the context of developing countries such as Ghana.