Determinants of the Credibility of the Police Force from the Perspective of Citizens’ Complaints about the Police Service

The study deals with research on the credibility of the Police Force based on content analysis of complaints from citizens of the Slovak Republic. It aims to define, on the basis of this analysis, the areas that citizens perceive as sensitive in the work of the police in relation to their trust in the police organisation. The analysis is based on the data contained in the Report on the handling of complaints and petitions within the competence of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic for the year 2021 and on our research of complaints registered in the first half of 2021 at the Presidium of the Police Force in Bratislava. On the basis of the study of complaint files at the Complaints Department of the Control Division of the Presidium of the Police Force as a representative research sample, it is possible to identify the friction areas of police work and its perception by the public in both qualitative and quantitative terms. At the same time, the above-mentioned period allows for an assessment of the extent of the influence of a particular security situation (the COVID-19 pandemic) on the relationship between the public and the police. The potential for strengthening the credibility of the Police Force is outlined, particularly in the area of police ethics.