Programs like “Blue Heelers” and “CSI” might rightly be viewed as public relations efforts or propaganda as stated in post #5 in the discussion thread, by the user “bennjamin”. Unfortunately we now exist in a media environment in which the media’s portrayal of criminal justice “reality” is best characterized by what criminologist Ray Surette calls the “law of opposites”: “Whatever the media show is the opposite of what is true. In every subject category, crimes, criminals, crime fighters, the investigation of crimes, arrests, the processing and disposition of cases, the entertainment media present a world of crime and justice that is not found in reality” (Surette 1998, p. 47). These shows do not give an accurate representation of policing to the public and somewhat places certain expectations on the police which can be of negative nature in cases, such as if there is a crime, the victim will expect the police to perform as well as it was seen on the TV show otherwise the victim will not feel reattributed and will show rejection towards the police.
Public attitudes towards police are not always negative (Huang and Vaughn 1996). News accounts tend to exaggerate the proportion of offences that result in arrest which projects an image that police are more effective than official statistics demonstrate (Sacco and Fair 1988). The favourable view of policing is partly a consequence of police’s public relations strategy. Reporting of proactive police activity creates an image of the police as effective and efficient investigators of crime (Christensen, Schmidt and Henderson 1982). Accordingly, a positive police portrayal reinforces traditional approaches to law and order that involves increased police presence, harsher penalties and increasing police power (Sacco 1995). In addition, as suggested by user “monoxide” in the discussion post #11, a symbiotic relationship exists between news media personnel and the police. It is suggested that the police and the media engage in a mutually beneficial relationship. The media needs the police to provide them with quick, reliable sources of crime information, while the police have a vested interest in maintaining a positive public image (Ericson, Baranek and Chan 1987). However, the user “J3Z3Z” suggests in the discussion thread that the police are not portrayed positively by the news media, One day they’re criticising the police for raising revenues by issuing speeding fines etc, while another time the same source is praising the police for catching people that speed and call those that speed “silly”. Surette (1998) claims that the news tabloid programs represent the police as heroes that fight evil, yet print and broadcast news that suggest the police are ineffective and incompetent. Likewise, graber (1980) claims that the general public evaluates police performance more favourably compared with courts and correction. Nevertheless, Graber (1980) states that the media provides little information to judge police and that the news media focus on negative criticism rather than positive or successful crime prevention efforts. In essence, most media crime is punished, but policemen are rarely the heroes (Lichter and Lichter 1983).
Police effectiveness, fear of crime and punitive attitudes are important aspects of public attitudes toward crime and justice in Australia. First, police strategies reflect departmental values, which reflect community values. Negative or positive attitudes towards the police may influence police policy making and strategy. Second, citizen attitudes towards the police may influence decisions to report crime. Third, both fear of crime and punitive attitudes may influence policy making and law making by government agencies, as public support or opposition may determine policy.
Given that most Australians rely on media accounts of crime and criminal justice for their understanding of the crime problem, research suggests that many citizens are thoroughly misinformed about criminal justice policy and police work in particular. In my research on the show “CSI,” I concluded that overzealous and unrealistic portrayals of police effectiveness, portrayals of police as superhero crime fighters who always catch their man, in the end actually work to compromise our ability to fight crime and harm police by placing unrealistic expectations on them. However much we might want to believe that simply hiring more police and building more prisons to house their arrestees will solve the crime problem, long lasting solutions to the crime problem clearly depend on addressing the underlying social problems that make police work such a challenging occupation.
Bibliography
Grabber D (1980), Crime News and the public. New York, Praeger
Huang, Wilson W.S. and Michael S. Vaughn (1996). “Support and confidence: Favourable attitudes toward the police correlate of attitudes toward the police”.
California, Sage Publications
Lichter, L. and S. Lichter (1983), Prime Time Crime. Washington, D.C: Media Institute
Roane, Kit R (2005). “The CSI Effect.” US News & World Report. Vol. 138, No 15
Sacco, V. and B. Fair. (1988). “Images of legal control: Crime news and the process of organisational legitimation”. Canadian journal of communication 32(3-4): 114-123
Saks, Michael J. & Jonathan J. Koehler (2005) “The Coming Paradigm Shift in Forensic Identification Science.” Science Vol. 309, 892 – 895.
Surette, Ray (1998). Media Crime and Criminal Justice: Images and Realities. Wadsworth ITP.