How do Majority Communities View the Potential Costs of Policing Terrorism? Findings from a Community Survey in Israel1

摘要

While the potential effects of policing terrorism on Arab communities, and the way these effects are perceived, have been widely discussed and documented, it is not clear how majority communities view the potential costs of policing terrorism. Generally, it has been assumed that these communities support harsh counter-terrorism responses and are less concerned with possible unintended negative outcomes (e.g. reduced police resources for crime control, or movement away from community-oriented styles of policing). In this article, we provide the first description we are aware of, of the views of majority communities concerning the potential consequences of policing terrorism. We utilize data from a large-scale community survey carried out in Israel between October and December 2008. Our results suggest that ‘what the community wants the police to do’ in the face of immediate threat may be more complicated than merely providing forceful, rapid responses, since majority communities are also well aware of possible negative outcomes of policing terrorism. In the face of security threats, the public does not want the police to focus solely on providing forceful responses and abandon classic duties and fair processes.