Objectives

This study aimed to determine if young people’s views of police legitimacy and intentions to offend are affected by the delivery of a road safety program by uniformed police officers (control) compared with plain clothes police officers (experimental). The study further explores the direct correlation between views of police legitimacy and intentions to offend as well as the impact of uniforms, mediated by views of police legitimacy, on intentions to offend.

Methods

Participants in this study were grade 12 students (n = 380) from private (fee-paying) high schools located in Queensland, Australia. Participants were surveyed following their involvement in a police road safety program. t-Tests, correlation, and mediation analyses were conducted to determine the impact of police uniforms and views of police legitimacy on intentions to offend.

Results

Results of this study demonstrate that delivery of the program by uniformed police officers had a significantly greater positive impact on the views of police legitimacy and intentions to offend compared with delivery by plain-clothed officers. The study also demonstrates a significant correlation between views of police legitimacy and intentions to offend, as well as a mediated model including views of police legitimacy that explains more variance in intentions to offend when mediated by views of police legitimacy.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that views of police legitimacy, as well as intentions to offend, are more positively impacted when an educational course is facilitated by uniformed police officers. The mediation analysis demonstrates that uniforms impact views of police legitimacy and these views significantly affect intentions to offend. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the complex relationship between police uniforms, views of police legitimacy, and offending and may inform future research and policy decisions in the area of policing.

中文翻译：

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警察制服对改变年轻人对警察合法性和驾驶意图的看法的影响：一项实验

目标

本研究旨在确定与便衣警察（实验）相比，穿制服的警察（对照）实施道路安全计划是否会影响年轻人对警察合法性和犯罪意图的看法。该研究进一步探讨了警察合法性观点与犯罪意图之间的直接相关性，以及警察合法性观点介导的制服对犯罪意图的影响。

方法

这项研究的参与者是 来自澳大利亚昆士兰州私立（付费）高中的12 年级学生（ n = 380）。参与者在参与警察道路安全计划后接受了调查。t - 进行测试、相关性和中介分析，以确定警察制服和警察合法性观点对犯罪意图的影响。

结果

这项研究的结果表明，与便衣警察相比，穿制服的警察执行该计划对警察合法性和犯罪意图的看法具有显着更大的积极影响。该研究还表明，警察合法性观点与犯罪意图之间存在显着相关性，以及包含警察合法性观点的中介模型，该模型解释了当警察合法性观点作为中介时，犯罪意图的更大差异。

结论

这项研究表明，当穿制服的警察主持教育课程时，对警察合法性的看法以及犯罪意图会受到更积极的影响。调解分析表明，制服会影响对警察合法性的看法，而这些看法会显着影响犯罪意图。这项研究的结果为了解警察制服、警察合法性观点和犯罪之间的复杂关系提供了宝贵的见解，并可能为警务领域的未来研究和政策决策提供信息。