This study examines public satisfaction with police in a region of Russia and empirically confirms that dissatisfaction remains high and pervasive in the region. A brief historical summary is included that highlights the development of the Soviet police. The literature review includes a discussion of both Russian and English studies that have identified various factors related to public satisfaction with police. This study examines raw longitudinal citizen survey data ( N = 4,000) collected annually from 1998—2005 and focuses on citizen trust of criminal justice institutions and fear of crime as explanatory variables. An explanatory empirical model is developed to test whether low levels of public satisfaction with police in Russia can be attributed to the distrust of criminal justice institutions and fear of crime. The model is grounded in the motive-based theory of institutional trust. The findings of the study provide empirical evidence that criminal justice institutional trust is a major explanatory factor regarding public police satisfaction in Russia.
Andreev, A.L. (2005). Vzaimootnoshenia grazgdan i militsii [Relations between the citizenry and police]. Bulletin of Academy of Science, 75(4), 291-297.
2.
Beck, A., & Lee, R. (2002). Attitudes to corruption amongst Russian police officers and trainees. Crime, Law and Social Change, 38, 357-372.
3.
Beck, A., & Robertson, A. (2003). Crime in Russia: Exploring the link between victimization and concern about crime. International Journal of Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 5(1), 27-46.
4.
Beck, A., & Robertson, A. (2005). Policing in post-Soviet Russia. In A. Pridemore (Ed.), Ruling Russia: Law, crime, and justice in a changing society (pp. 247-260). Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield.
5.
Bel'skyi, K.S. (2004). Politseiskoe pravo [police law]. Moscow: Delo & Servis.
6.
Bentler, P. (2004). EQS 6. Structural equations modeling. Program manual. Retrieved August 5, 2006, from www.mvsoft.com.
7.
Bezaev, M.N. (1999). Obschestvennoe mnenie o kriminogennoi obstanovke i deyatel'nosti vnutrennih del [Public opinion about the criminal conditions and the work of police]. Social Research, 12, 100-105.
8.
Bondarenko, T.A. (2006a). Imidg organov vnutrennih del MVD v "militseiskih" teleserialah [The image of Agencies of Interior Affairs in the "police" soap operas]. Social Research, 9, 114-119.
9.
Bondarenko, T.A. (2006b). Stereootip vospriytiya pravoohranitelnyh organov na Dal'nem Vostoke [The stereotype about the law enforcement activities in Far East Region]. Social Research, 1, 99-102.
10.
Borisov, A.V., & Kudryavtsev, A.V. (1993). Kontseptualnye osnovy raboty s personalom organov vsnuternnih del v sovremmennyh usloviyah [Conceptual Basis for the work with the personnel of agencies of interior affairs in the modern conditions]. Moscow: MVD Official Press.
11.
Budanov, A.V., & Krivel'skaya, N.V. (1994). Puti sotsial'no-psikhologitcheskogo izucheniya i ispol'zovaniya obshestvennogo mnenia v deyatel'nosti vnutrennih del [Approaches to social-psychological research of public opinion about work of police]. Moscow: Scientific Research Institute of State Attorney Office.
12.
Butler, W.E. (2003). Russian law. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
13.
Cherkasov, R.V. (2006). SMI i obschesvennoe menie o militsii [Mass media and public opinion about police]. Social Research, 4, 85-88.
14.
Davis, R.C., Ortiz, C.W., Glinskiy, Y., Ylesseva, I., & Briller, V. (2004). A cross-national comparison of citizens' perception of the police in New York City and St. Petersburg, Russia. Policing. An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 27(1), 22-36.
15.
Dzuev, H.V., Khugaeva, A.A., & Tsogoev, T.N. (2005). Monitoring obschestvennogo mneniya o deyatel'nosti MVD RSO-Alaniya [Monitoring of public opinion about work of MVD RSO-Alania] . Vladikavkaz: Russian Academy of Science. Northern Ossetian Center of Social Research. Institute of social-political studies. MVD.
16.
Efremova, G.H. (1990). Kriminalisticheskie problemy obschestvennogo mneniya [Forensic problems of public opinion]. Moscow: Scientific Research Institute of State Attorney's Office for Problems of Legality Strengthening and Legal Order.
17.
Efremova, G.H., Zvyangintsev, A.G., & Karlin, A.B. (1989). Izuchenie obschestvennogo mneniya v deyatel'nosti prokuratury [The research on public opinion about police]. Moscow: MVD Official Press.
18.
Egoryshev, S.V. (1997a). Organy vnutrennih del kak sotsial'naya organisatsiya: problemy ih reformirovaniya i povysheniya effectivnosti deyatel'nosti [The agencies of Interior Affairs as a social organization: The problems of their reforming and improving the effectiveness of their activity]. Ufa: BashkirState University.
19.
Egoryshev, S.V. (1997b). Organy vnutrennih del Bashkortostana v otsenkah naseleniya [The agencies of interior affairs of Bashkortostan in public evaluations] . Social Research, 8, 78-87.
20.
Fastov, A.G. (2005). Organy vnutrennih del Rossii: istoriya stanovleniya i razvitiya [The Agencies of Interior Affairs of Russia History of establishment and development] : Volgograd: Volgograd Law Academy.
21.
FOM. (1996). Moskvitchi chustvuyt sebya nezaschishennymi na ulitsah Moskvy [Residents of Moscow feel unsafe on the streets of their city]. Retrieved September 10, 2006 , from www.fom.ru.
22.
FOM. (1998). Znaete li vy svoego uchastkovogo militsionera i esli da, udovletvoreny li vy ego rabotoi? [Do you know your local police officers and if yes, are you satisfied with his work?]. Retrieved on October 7, 2007, from www.fom.ru.
23.
FOM. (2005). Militsia i ee reputatsiya [Police and its reputation]. Retrieved May 12, 2006, from www.fom.ru.
24.
Frederick, A.G. (1993). Restructuring justice in Russia: A new era of challenges. Federal probation, 57(4), 769-786.
25.
Galeotti, M. (1993). Perestroika, perestrelka, pereborka: Policing in Russia in a time of change. Europe Asia Studies, 45(5), 769-786.
26.
Glinskiy, Y. (2000). Challenges of policing democracies: The Russian experience. In D. K. Das & O. Marenin (Eds.), Challenges of policing democracies. World experience (pp. 173-194). Australia: Gordon and Breach.
27.
Goldsmith, A. (2003). Policing weak states: Citizen safety and state responsibility. Policing and Society, 13(1), 3-21.
28.
Goldsmith, A. (2005). Police reform and the problem of trust. Theoretical criminology, 9(4), 443-470. Gryaznova, O. (2006). Otnoshenie zschitelei Rossii k pravoohranitel'nym organam [The attitude of Russian residents toward the law enforcement agencies] . Bulletin of Public Opinion , 2(82), 32-46.
29.
Gudkov, L. (2000). Otnoshenie k pravovym institutam v Rossii [The attitude toward the legal institutions in Russia]. Monitoring of public opinion: Economical and social changes, 3(47), 30-39.
30.
Gudkov, L., & Dubin, B. (2006). Privatisatsiya politsii [Privatization of police] . Bulletin of Public Opinion, 1(81), 58-71.
31.
Gudkov, L., Dubin, B., & Leonova, A. (2004). Militseiskoe nasilie i problema "politseiskogo gosudarstva" [Police violence and the problem of "police state"]. Bulletin of Public Opinion, 4(72), 31-47.
32.
Icvs. (1996). Database. Cross-tabulations . Retrieved August 4, 2006, from http://www.unicri.it .
33.
Icvs. (2000). Database. Cross-tabulations . Retrieved August 4, 2006, from http://www.unicri.it .
34.
Instruction. About the Organization of Workers and Peasants Police, Sbornik Ukazov RSFSR [Collection of Decrees of RSFSR], 75, article 813 (1918).
35.
Ivanova, V.A., & Shubkin, V.N. (2005). Massovaya trevozschnost' Rossiyan kak prepyatstvie k integratsii obschestva [Massive anxiety of Russians as the obstacle to the societal integration]. Social Research, 2, 22-28.
36.
Johnson, M., & Paromchik, S. (2002). Human rights and the police. In M. Pagon (Ed.), Policing in Central and Eastern Europe: Comparing firsthand knowledge with experience from the West (pp. 349-355). Ljubljana, Slovenia: College of Police and Security Studies.
37.
Joreskog, K.G. (1994). On the estimation of polychoric correlations and their asymptotic covariance matrix. Psychometrika, 59(3), 381-389.
38.
Kalashnikov, V. (1996). Avtoritet sily i syla ovtoriteta [The authority of the power and the power of authority]. Police, 10, 4-8.
39.
Kolennikova, O.A. (2006). Transformatsiya pravoohranitel'nyh organov v Rossii: sotsial'no-politicheskie posledstviya [Transformation of law enforcement agencies in Russia: social-political consequences]. Social Research , 2, 69-75.
40.
Komlev, Y.Y., Demidov, V.N., & Tolchinskiy, L.G. (1997). Sredstva massovoi informatsii i formirovanie obschestvennogo mneniya o pravoohranitel'noi deyatle'nosti [Mass media and formation of the public opinion about law enforcement]. State and Law, 8, 110-114.
41.
Krivel'skaya, N.V. (1990). Obshestvennoe mnenie i ego uchet v upravlenii organami vnutrennih del [Public Opinion and its role in the management of agencies of interior affairs]. Moscow: Academy of MVD USSR.
42.
Kukushkin, V.M. (1996). Problemy povesheniya avtoriteta i prestiga sotrudnikov OVD sredi naseleniya: Metodicheskie ukazaniya dlya provedeniya zanyatii po sotisial'no-gumanitranoi podgotovke [The problems of improving the authority and prestige of the officers of agencies of interior affairs: Methodological instructions for the lecturing on social-humanitarian preparation]. Moscow: Main Office of Human Resources, Russian, Ministry of Interior Affairs.
43.
Kuzminskiy, E.F., Mazaev, Y.N., & Mikchailovskaya, I.B. (1994). Prestupnost': chto my znaem o nei. Militsiya: chto my dumaem o nei [Criminality: What we know about it. Police: What we think about it]. Moscow: NTL.
44.
Lelekov , V.A., & Tyamin, A.V. (2005). Zaschishennost' lichnosti ot prestupnyh posyagatelstv [Personal security from crime acts]. Social Research, 6, 107-108.
45.
Levdada. (2004). Otnoshenie k militsii sredi zchitelei krupnyh gorodov Rossii [Attitudes toward police among the residents of large urban cities in Russia]. Retrieved May 12, 2006, from www.levada.ru.
46.
Los, M. (2002). Post-communist fear of crime and the commercialization of security. Theoretical criminology, 6(2), 165-188.
Mawby, R. (1999). The changing face of policing in Central and Eastern Europe. International Journal of Police Science and Management , 2(3), 199-216.
49.
Mazaev, Y.N. (1997). Kak izmenyatsya otnoshenie naseleniya k militsii [How does the public opinion towards the police change?]. Social Research, 11, 68-73.
50.
Mazaev, Y.N. (2004). Rol' sredstv massovoi informatsii v formirovanii obschestvennogo mneniya o militsii [The role of mass media in shaping the public opinion about police]. Social Research, 2, 106-115.
51.
Mazaev, Y.N., Yakovlev, O.V., & Kamaev, B.G. (2003). Sostoyanie vzaimootnosheni mezschdu militsiei i naseleniem i perspektivy ih sovershenstvovaniya [The state of relations between the public and police and the perspectives of its improvement]. Paper presented at the Materials of the Round Table Discussion on September 26, 2003, Moscow.
52.
Miller, J.M. (1999). Administrative police training for an emerging democracy: An evaluation of the Moscow police command college-a research note . American Journal of Criminal Justice, 23(2), 267-276.
53.
Mishler, W., & Rose, R. (2005). What are the political consequences of trust? Test of cultural and institutional theories in Russia. Comparative Political Studies, 38(9), 1050-1078.
54.
Mitroshenkov, O.A. (2004). Otnoshenie naselenia i gosluzchashih k suschestvuyshemu pravoporyadku [Attitudes of population and government officials toward the existing law and order]. Social Research, 5, 113-120.
55.
Morn, F., & Sergevnin, V. (1994). Police training in modern Russia. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 18(1), 118-128.
56.
Morozov, V.M., & Sergevnin, V.A. (1996). Utilization of international experience of the police recruiting, selection and training in the Russian Federation. In M. Pagon (Ed.), Policing in Central and Eastern Europe: Comparing firsthand knowledge with experience from the West (pp. 99-101). Ljubljana, Slovenia: College of Police and Security.
57.
MVD. (1992). Decree # 295 "Ob organizatsii izucheniya obschestvennogo mneniya o deyatel'nosti vnutrennih del" [About organization of public opinion research on activities of Agencies of Interior Affairs] Adopted on August 22, 1992. MVD archive of legal acts.
58.
MVD. (1994). "Metodologicheskie rekomendatsii po isucheniyu obschestvennogo mneniya i ispol'zovaniya ego rezul'tatov v organizatsii ukrepleniya pravoporyadka i bor'by s prestupnost'yu [Mythological recommendations on study of public opinion and the use of it in the organization of law and order and crime-fighting]. Scientific-Research Institute of MVD Press.
59.
MVD. (1997). Decree # 337 "O merah po sovershenstvovaniu organisatsii isucheniya obschestvennogo menniya o deyatel'nosti organov vnutrennih del" [About the measures for improving the organization of public opinion research about activities of agencies of interior affairs]. Adopted on June 4, 1997. MVD archive of legal acts.
60.
MVD. (1999). Decree # 977 "Ob informatsionno-propagandistskoi deyatel'nosti" [About informational propaganda] . Adopted on December 6, 1999. MVD archive of legal acts.
61.
MVD. (2001). Decree # 319 "O sovershenstvovanii organisatsii vzaimodeistviya so sredstvami massovoi informatsii" [About improving the organization of interaction with mass media] . Adopted on November 12, 2001. MVD archive of legal acts.
62.
MVD. (2005a). Decree # 718 "Ob utverzschdenii Kontsepsii sovershenstvovaniya vzaimodeistviya Ministerstva vnutrennih del Rossiiskoi Federatsii so sredstvami massovoi informatsii i obschestvennymi ob'edineniyami na 2005-2008 gody" [About approving the Conception of improving the interaction between the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Russia and mass media and non-profit organizations for 2005-2007 years]. Adopted on September 5, 2005. MVD archive of legal acts.
63.
MVD. (2005b). Decree # 650. "Ob utverzschdenii instruktsii po otsenke deyatel'nosti organov vnutrennih del" [About approving the Instruction on evaluation of activities of agencies of interior affairs]. Adopted on August 5, 2005. MVD archive of legal acts.
64.
MVSoft. (2005). EQS-structural equation modeling software. Retrieved on January 12, 2006, from www.mvsoft.com.
65.
Nevirko, D.D., Shenkevitch, V.E., & Gorbach, N.A. (2006). Deyatelnost' militsii v zerkale obschestvennogo mneniya [Police activities in the mirror of public opinion]. Social Research, 2, 76-84.
66.
Polegaev, L. (1997). Avtoritet militsii-eto avtoritet vlasti [Authority of police is authority of the government]. Police (2), 4-7.
67.
Pustintsev, B. (2000). Police reform in Russia: Obstacles and opportunities . Policing and Society, 10, 79-90.
68.
Russian Agency of Statistics (RAS). (2006). Demographic characteristics of Volgograd region. Retrieved October 4, 2006, from www.gks.ru.
69.
Rebrii, V.A. (1995). Pressa o militsii [The media about police]. Paper presented at the Problems of Contemporary Society Development , Moscow.
70.
Robertson, A. (2005). Criminal justice policy transfer to post-Soviet states: Case of police reform in Russia and Ukraine. European Journal of Criminal Policy and Research, 11(1), 1-28.
71.
Romir. (2003). Tsyfry I facty: Chto volnuet rossiyan [Numbers and Facts: What concerns the Russian citizens?] . Retrieved May 4, 2006, from www.romir.ru .
72.
Romir. (2004). Tsyfry i facty: Doverie vlast' [Numbers and facts: Trust to the government]. Research report. Retrieved May 4, 2006, from www.romir.ru.
73.
Romir. (2005a). Tsyfry i facty. Glavnye problemy rossiyan [Numbers and facts. Major problems of Russians] . Retrieved May 4, 2006, from www.romir.ru .
74.
Romir. (2005b). Tsyfry I facty: Chto zchelaut grazdane svoei militsii [Numbers and Facts: What Russian citizens wish to their police]. Retrieved May 4, 2006, from www.romir.ru.
75.
Romir. (2005c). Tsyfry I facty: Doverie vlast' [Numbers and facts: Trust to the government]. Retrieved May 4, 2006, from www.romir.ru.
76.
Romir. (2006). Tsyfry I facty: Chestnost' vlast' [Numbers and facts: Trustworthiness of the government]. Retrieved May 4, 2006, from www.romir.ru.
77.
Rutkevitch, M.N. (1998). Protsessy sotsial'noi degradatsii v Rossiiskom obschestve [The processes of social degradation in Russian society]. Social Research, 6, 3-12.
78.
Savchenko, I. (1997). Veryat li nam ludi? Militsia v zerkale sotsiologicheckih oprosov [Do people believe us? Police in the mirror of sociological surveys] . Police, 4, 16-18.
79.
Supreme Court. (2006). Federal Principal Program "Development of court system in Russia for 2007-2011 years." Retrieved August 7, 2007, from www.rg.ru .
80.
Shafigullin, H.S. (1995). Pravovye i sotsiologicheskie problemy organisatsii truda rabotnikov dorogno-patrul'noi slugby GAI OVD [Legal and sociological problems of labor organization for the police officers of traffic services in agencies of interior affairs]. Moscow: Moscow Law Academy.
81.
Tarasova, V.A. (2004). Administrativno-pravovoe regulirovanie gosudarstvennogo kontrolya za deyatel'nost'u militsii [Administrative regulation of state control after police activities]. Moscow: Moscow State University.
82.
Terrill, R.J. (1997). World criminal justice systems: A survey. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
83.
Timoshenko, S. (1997). Prospects for reform of the Russia militia. Policing and Society, 8, 117-124.
84.
Tumentsev, A.N. (2002). Zadachi OVD regiona po povysheniu doveriya naseleniya i formirovaniu pozitivnogo obschestvennogo mneniya o deyatel'nosti OVD [The goals of the Regional Office of Interior Affairs to improve the trust of the population and shaping the positive public opinion about the work of the offices of interior affairs]. Volgograd: VLA MVD.
85.
Tyler, T.R., & Huo, Y.J. (2002). Trust in the law. Encouraging public cooperation with the police and courts. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
86.
Uildriks, N., & Reenen, P. v. (2003). Policing post-communist societies: Police-public violence, democratic policing and human rights. Antwerp, Oxford, New York: Intersentia: Open Society Institute.
87.
Vorob'ev, A.M. (1992). Sotsial'nyi portret rabotnika organov vnutrennih del [Social image of policemen]. Social Research, 10, 107-109.
88.
Vorontsov, A.V. (1997). Sovershenstvovanie vzaimodeistvia militsii i naseleniya [Improving the interaction between police and population]. Moscow: Moscow Law Institute of MVD.
89.
Wciom. (2001). Reitingi doveriya /nedoveriya institutam obschestva [Ranking of most trustworthy and least trustworthy societal institutions in Russia]. Retrieved June 12, 2006, from www.wciom.ru.
90.
Wciom. (2006). Bezopasnost' rossiyan: otsenivaya rabotu militsii, FSB i prokuratury [Safety of Russians: Assessing work of police, FSB and procuracy]. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from www.wciom.ru.
91.
Yelin, A. (2001). Police, security and democracy: A police perspective of the Russian experience during times of transition. In S. Einstein & M. Amir (Eds.), Policing, security and democracy: Theory and practice. Chicago: Office of International Criminal Justice, the University of Illinois at Chicago.
92.
Zircon. (2001). Obschestvennoe mnenie ob organah gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti [Public opinion about the state security agencies]. April 5, 2006, from www.zircon.ru.
93.
Zvekic, U. (1996). Policing and attitudes toward police private in countries in transition. Policing in Central and Eastern Europe: Comparing firsthand knowledge with experience from the West, Retrieved May 10, 2006, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/policing/contents.html .
