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Evaluation of Community Policing among Roma: A Comparison of Slovenia and Croatia

Purpose: Authors analyse the quality of policing in two different municipalities, divided by a national border between Slovenia and Croatia. The survey in the Lendava municipality (in the eastern Pomurje region of Slovenia) was conducted on subsamples that consist of members of Roma, and non-Roma (Hungarian, Croatian and Slovenian) communities. The survey in the Čakovec municipality was performed on two subsamples of Roma and Croatian community members. The aim of the study was to analyse the quality of policing in multi-ethnic communities from four perspectives: (1) quality of police contact ; (2) perception of level of crime and disorder ; (3) fear of victimization, and (4) level of community cohesion. Methods: Data required for the survey was collected on the basis of questionnaire for the evaluation of community policing called „The Community Policing Evaluation Survey“ by Adam J. McKee (2001). The survey method was adopted for Slovenia and Croatia environment. First, we calculated the basic statistical parameters and then set out indicators of questionnaire reliability. The differences in the perception of the quality of community policing were calculated with univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc analysis with Dunnett's T3 test. Findings: Results for Slovenian subsample show that the implementation of community policing was slightly above average, whereas statistically significant differences between the Roma and non- Roma population regarding community cohesion and perception of crime and disorder were discovered. In Slovenian subsample respondents from the Roma community perceive disorder and crime in their environment less frequently, but they are also less integrated into the community they live, when comparing to non-Roma respondents. Although the results for Croatian subsample show a high- level of relationship quality between local police and the Roma population, we can still recognize some general opportunities to improve policing in the community relative to the majority population in both countries. Research limitations: A comparative aspect of this research can be useful since it was carried out in two very similar, but still different countries. On the one hand the police state of mind and approach to policing is different between the selected countries, which on the other hand makes it interesting to observe the final outcome regarding people’s perception. Limitations of this study are also seen in a small sample of respondents and the fact that the evaluations were performed only in specific geographical area. Originality: Though much research in both of the observed countries has sought to examine the effects of community policing, little research has examined the effects of community policing in multicultural communities, especially from the minorities (e.g. Roma) point of view.

community policing; evaluation; Roma; Croatia; Slovenia

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