A Comparison of Attitudes to the Police Between Greek Cypriots and Ethnic Minorities Living in Cyprus

Abstract

The attitudes of 66 ethnic minorities and 152 Cypriots toward the police were examined according to age, experience of criminal victimization, and race. Questions were based on the British Crime Survey (BCS) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and were translated into Greek. Results showed low levels of experience of possession crime and crime against the person in Cypriots and ethnic minorities, with no difference in these experiences between the two groups. Attitudes to the police were predicted by age and ethnicity with younger participants and Cypriots holding more negative attitudes than older participants and ethnic minorities. Victimization experience did not predict attitudes. Some victims of crime, who had not reported the crime to the police, stated that their reasons for not doing so were because of their lack of trust in the police’s ability to do something about the incident. Discussion centers on reasons why differences in attitudes toward the police might exist and the implications of the findings for the Cypriot police force in terms of public relations.