ABSTRACT
In a recent poll performed in 2011 by 15 European countries as well as the United States, Brazil, Colombia, and India, the Swedish police was ranked number 1 in public trust with 89% satisfaction (GfK Trust Index, 2011). However, when the question in a Swedish poll was rephrased to asking about whether Swedish citizens associate certain professions with high competence, then the police profession was associated with high competence by only 62% of the population (Holmberg & Weibull, 2012). In comparison, 79% of the public associate physicians with high competence and 74% associate researchers in general with high competence (Holmberg & Weibull, 2012). Hence, there seems to be a discrepancy between trust in the police officers and in the competence of the policing work done. This is troublesome from the perspective that being trusted by the society, both as an organization and for providing competent work, is essential for the police authorities’ ability to function, for example, by making people inclined to report crimes and testify.
