The Impact of Police Contact Experience through the Media on Citizens’ Trust in the Police and Police Effectiveness

This study aimed to examine how media exposure to police encounters influences public trust in the police and perceptions of police effectiveness among 539 residents of Seoul. To achieve this, we categorized different types of media consumption and conducted a latent profile analysis. The key findings are as follows. First, statistical significance was observed across models with two to five latent groups, with the four-profile model emerging as the best fit. Second, when analyzing participants' trust in the police and their perception of police effectiveness by latent profile group, the group with high engagement and a focus on media functionality exhibited the highest levels of trust and perceived effectiveness of the police, followed by the mid-level and low-to-mid-level groups. Conversely, the group with low engagement and a focus on storytelling exhibited the lowest levels of trust and perceived police effectiveness. Third, individuals in the low engagement/storytelling-focused group demonstrated significantly lower trust in the police compared to the low-to-mid-level group, while those in the high engagement/media functionality-focused group showed significantly higher levels of trust. This pattern was consistent with regard to the perception of police effectiveness. The findings of this study suggest that individuals' trust in the police and their assessment of police effectiveness vary depending on the type of media they predominantly consume. This research is significant in understanding how media consumption shapes public trust in law enforcement and its subsequent impact on perceptions of police effectiveness.