Public perception of police behaviors in the disaster COVID-19 – the Case of Serbia

Purpose – The aim of the study is to determine the perception of general public on the Serbian police behaviors in combating COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the perception of the citizens how successful the police units were in fulfilling their tasks. 

Design/methodology/approach – Due to the state of emergency declared due COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the restriction of movement and the need for social distance, the data collection for this study had to be conducted via the on-line survey platform (google.doc). The study was conducted during March–April 2020, only four weeks after the state of emergency was declared. The participants were invited to complete the on-line questionnaire in their native language by using the snowball sampling strategy focused on recruiting the general public via social media tools. 

Findings – Considering the fact that police officers are not sufficiently prepared and trained to respond in these specific circumstances, it is necessary to improve their engagement in the future by conducting appropriate training, procuring adequate resources, implementing adequate planning activities, etc. The results of the multivariate regressions of public perception preparedness subscale show that the most important predictor is gender and it explains 23.6% of the variance in preparedness subscale. The remaining variables did not have significant effects on preparedness. This model with all mentioned independent variables, explains 6.1% of the variance of preparedness subscale. 

Originality/value – Bearing in mind that there were no completed studies on public perception of police behaviors about the COVID-19 disaster in Serbia, the research has a considerable scientific and social importance. Keywords: police, disaster, public perception, pandemic, COVID-19, Serbia.

Janković, B., & Cvetković, M. V. (2020). Public perception of police behaviors in the disaster COVID-19 – the Case of Serbia. Policing An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management. doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2020-0072

Stavovi građana o mogućnostima zloupotrebe hemijskog oružja u terorističke svrhe: implikacije na proces upravljanja rizicima - Citizens' Attitudes on Possibilities of Chemical Weapons Abuse for Terrorist Purposes: Implications for the Risk Management Process

Polazeći od ozbiljnosti posledica katastrofa izazvanih terorističkim napadima, sprovedeno je kvantitativno istraživanje sa ciljem naučne deskripcije stavova građana o značajnim pitanjima o mogućnostima zloupotrebe hemijskog oružja u terorističke svrhe. Istraživanje je sprovedeno na uzorku od 115 ispitanika sa područja grada Beograda korišćenjem prostog slučajnog uzorka. Dobijeni rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da visok procenat građana poznaje negativne posledice hemijskog oružja. Takođe, utvrđeno je da građani različito procenjuju verovatnoću da će se teroristički napad hemijskim oružjem dogoditi u Republici Srbiji. Pored toga, primetno je i da javnost u Srbiji ne doživljava hemijski terorizam kao pretnju, kao i potpuno nepoverenje građana u pripremljenost državnih i ne-državnih institucija u Republici Srbiji da odgovore na katastrofe izazvane terorističkim napadima upotrebom hemijskog oružja. Nepostojanje empirijske baze o mogućnostima zloupotrebe takvog oružja u terorističke svrhe, nedvosmisleno svedoči o naučnom doprinosu sprovedenog istraživanja. S druge strane, društveni značaj istraživanja se ogleda u stvaranju pretpostavki za integrisano unapređenje nivoa bezbednosti građana Republike Srbije. Potrebno je nastaviti sa kontinuiranim sprovođenjem istraživanja kako bi se demistifikovala mnogobrojna istraživačka pitanja iz oblasti upravljanja rizicima od terorističkih napada. Ključne reči: katastrofe, stavovi, teroristički napadi, hemijsko oružje, upravljanje rizicima.

Link - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339103221_Stavovi_gradana_o_mogucnostima_zloupotrebe_hemijskog_oruzja_u_teroristicke_svrhe_implikacije_na_proces_upravljanja_rizicima_-_Citizens'_Attitudes_on_Possibilities_of_Chemical_Weapons_Abuse_for_Terrori