Rural and urban perceptions of policing in Alberta


Tanya Trussler, Mount Royal University

Positive public perception of policing is important as it is often considered a gauge for police performance. Canada maintains a relatively high level of trust in the police, however, there is often a perceived opinion gap on policing between rural and urban residents. Using a survey of 1470 respondents from Alberta (2023), this paper compares views on policing for rural and urban residents. Firstly, we outline basic opinions of policing between the two geographic self-identified groups. Secondly, we create more complex scales of perception of policing and compare means across the two groups. Finally, we look at whether various factors affect opinions of police differently across rural and urban respondents. Results indicate many similarities across the two groups. Areas for future research are discussed.

Non-presenting author: Lars Hailstrom, University of Lethbridge

This paper will be presented at the following session: