TIMES POLL : San Diegans Still Trust Law Enforcement Officers

SAN DIEGO —  Despite recent criminal allegations against law enforcement officers, most San Diegans still have confidence in police officers and sheriff’s deputies--but a sizable number also have serious concerns about police behavior, a Los Angeles Times Poll shows.

Illustrating that blend of support and growing concern, the poll found that San Diego County residents, by a 51%-39% margin, believe that the recent cases of alleged police misconduct are isolated incidents, not evidence of broad systematic problems within local law enforcement departments.

That question, like a number of others in the poll, produced a pattern in which an overall favorable rating was accompanied by a large negative dissent. For example, in this instance, while a slim majority viewed the recent embarrassing incidents as isolated episodes, nearly four out of every 10 San Diegans feel that the cases suggest department-wide problems. Similar percentages of people had seen their confidence in law enforcement erode and felt that criminal conduct was common among San Diego police.

Still, the poll also showed that San Diegans approve of the performance of the San Diego Police Department and county Sheriff’s Department, both of which have been embarrassed by misconduct cases this summer: the arrest last week of a police officer on suspicion of attempted murder and sexual assault, and the fatal shooting of a sheriff’s deputy while he was committing a robbery.

The San Diego Police Department drew a 57%-28% favorable countywide rating, and a 63%-28% favorable mark among city residents alone. The Sheriff’s Department received an even more positive assessment: 62% to 21% countywide, and 73% to 20% strictly among those in the regions it serves.

Even so, the poll reveals growing public skepticism about the performance of local law enforcement officers. Notably, 39% of San Diegans believe that criminal misconduct is common in the San Diego Police Department, while 34% detect the same pattern within the Sheriff’s Department.

And, while 54% say the recent cases have not affected their faith in law officers, a sizable minority of 39% now have less trust in local police and deputies because of the much-publicized incidents.

Similarly, a majority of those polled--56%--said that, over the past several years, their confidence in the law officers who patrol their communities has remained about the same. However, among those whose opinions did change during that time, the change generally was for the worse, as 30% said their confidence in local law enforcement departments has decreased, compared with only 12% who said that they now hold police in higher regard.

Consequently, the poll’s results can simultaneously be a source of both satisfaction and concern to law enforcement.

“What comes through is that, while there may have been some denting of the image of law enforcement, there hasn’t been a dramatic drop of confidence,” said Times Poll director John Brennan. “Clearly, the police and sheriff’s department have been hurt by this. But there hasn’t been a total free fall with the bottom dropping out of the city’s and county’s confidence in law enforcement.”

The Times Poll is based on telephone interviews conducted Saturday with 1,063 adult residents throughout San Diego County. The poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Both San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen and county Sheriff Jim Roache said they were heartened by what they see as the public’s generally positive attitude, coming as it does only days after the San Diego police officer was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and attempted sexual assault.

The officer, Henry Hubbard Jr., who allegedly shot the two male companions of a woman he tried to sexually assault at Torrey Pines State Beach, also has been identified by police as the prime suspect in a recent series of beach robberies and sexual assaults.

Last month, the Sheriff’s Department endured a similar embarrassment, as off-duty Deputy Michael Stanewich was shot and killed by a fellow officer during an attempted armed robbery.

“Given the proximity to those events, I’d say that’s a very favorable result,” Burgreen said of his department’s positive approval rating and much of the public’s inclination to view the recent cases of alleged police misconduct as isolated instances.

“Plus, the public has been bombarded for nearly two years with attacks on the former chief (Bill Kolender) and this department, most of which proved to be not true,” Burgreen added. “This shows that a majority of people have seen through that. But it also shows that, when you have a department of nearly 2,000 people enforcing the law, every once in a while you’re probably going to have a problem with a cop. And that affects the public’s perception.”

Kolender had been accused of involvement with prostitutes connected to so-called “Rolodex Madam” Karen Wilkening--a charge that the county Grand Jury found baseless. Meanwhile, a 10-month investigation that ended last month largely cleared the Police Department of corruption charges, though it did uncover “wholesale irregularities” in narcotics team activities in the mid-1980s.

Roache, meanwhile, argues that the findings demonstrate that while the public “holds law enforcement to the very highest standards--as it should--it also is fair in judging” officers’ failings.

“Most people realize that one or two unfortunate circumstances . . . are not indicative of the (police and sheriff’s) departments’ overall quality,” Roache said. “Our job is to strive to ensure that these problems almost never occur, because in law enforcement, even one of these cases is too many. I think people perceive that we’re trying to reach that goal.”

If the Hubbard and Stanewich cases have failed to dramatically reduce confidence in local law enforcement departments, it is not because the incidents have escaped public scrutiny or condemnation, the poll showed. Indeed, 94% of San Diegans have heard of at least one of the cases, and 75% are aware of both. Moreover, 81% of those polled described those incidents as “very serious,” and an additional 13% characterized them as somewhat serious.

Accordingly, San Diegans expressed a desire to see both the police and sheriff’s forces make improvements. Exactly half of those polled said that Burgreen needs to do more to assure that his officers behave lawfully, and 46% felt similarly about Roache. Thirty-five percent said that Burgreen seems to be “doing just about what he should be doing,” and 39% found Roache’s approach satisfactory.

The positive ratings amid controversy for the San Diego police and county sheriff’s departments contrast with public attitudes toward the Los Angeles Police Department, whose image has been battered by the Rodney King beating and a sharply critical blue-ribbon panel’s report on its performance. Last month, a Times Poll showed that Los Angeles residents gave the LAPD a 52%-42% negative job approval rating.

Among other things, the new Times Poll sought to measure public confidence in police relative to other public officials, as well as to gauge San Diegans’ attitudes about law enforcement officers’ honesty and performance.

The poll found that the public respects police officers far more than local elected officials, but less than firefighters. Fifty-five percent of those polled said that they have either a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in their communities’ police officers, compared with 88% for fire departments and only 25% for elected officials.

By lopsided majorities of 2 to 1 or more, most San Diegans believe that their local law-enforcement officers are effective in curtailing crime, and are honest and law-abiding themselves. Of those polled, 71% praised the police’s record in holding down crime, 72% described officers as honest and 65% said officers obey the law.

Most people also said that officers are behaving appropriately in using deadly force and in their treatment of minorities. While 28% say they believe that officers use their guns more often than necessary, more than twice as many people--59%--said police use deadly force “about as much as they should.”

Discounting oft-heard criticism about selective enforcement of the law, 54% of the poll’s respondents said they believe that the police treat minorities the same way that they treat Anglos, compared with 32% who think that the police are tougher on minorities.

Majorities of Latinos approve of the way that the two major local police forces do their jobs, but on many measures their view of the agencies are less positive than countywide averages, the poll found.

For example, 45% of Latinos believe that local police are tougher on minorities than on Anglos, compared with only 27% of Anglos. Similarly, 40% of Latinos think that local police use weapons too often, compared with 24% among Anglos.

A 59% Latino majority believes that San Diego city police break the law at least fairly often, and 50% feel the same about sheriff’s deputies, compared with 32% and 29%, respectively, for Anglos. In addition, 31% of Latinos say that they have observed the police in unlawful misconduct, while 15% of Anglos report such an experience.

Majorities of both men and women expressed confidence in local law enforcement and approve of both the city and county police forces. But women in the city of San Diego had a somewhat less favorable view of city police, and another gender-related distinction showed that only 13% of women have personally observed the police in unlawful conduct, compared with 24% of men.

HOW THE POLL WAS CONDUCTED

The Times Poll interviewed 1,063 adult San Diego County residents, by telephone, on Saturday, Aug. 17. The sample of telephone numbers were generated from a list that includes all telephone exchanges within the county. Random digit-dialing techniques were employed to ensure that unlisted as well as listed households were contacted. Interviewing was conducted in either English or Spanish. Results were adjusted slightly to conform with census figures for characteristics such as sex, race and national origin, education and household size. The margin of sampling error for percentages based on the total sample is about 3 percentage points in either direction. For percentages based on certain subgroups, the error margin is somewhat higher.

Times Poll

Confidence in Law Enforcement

Do you have a great deal, quite a lot, some or very little confidence in the police officers or county sheriff’s deputies who patrol your community?

Great deal: 26%

Quite a lot: 29%

Some: 30%

Very little: 11%

Don’t know: 4%

These days, when you yourself see a police officer or sheriff’s deputy or one of their vehicles in your community, how do you personally feel: Do you feel reassured about your safety, do you feel uneasy about your safety, or do you feel basically neutral when you see a police officer or sheriff’s deputy?

Reassured: 43%

Uneasy: 10%

Neutral: 46%

Don’t know: 1%

Do you think the cases of alleged misconduct on the part of certain San Diego city police officers and county sheriff’s deputies are isolated incidents mainly caused by personal problems, or do you think they reveal a broader systematic problem with the system of law enforcement in the area?

Haven’t heard enough to say: 2%

Isolated incidents: 51%

Broader problem: 39%

Don’t know: 8%

Have the recent incidents involving San Diego law enforcement officials made you more trusting of the law enforcement officials patrolling your local community, or less trusting in them, or haven’t the incidents affected your trust in local law enforcement officials?

More trusting: 4%

Less trusting: 39%

Haven’t affected trust: 54%

Don’t know: 3%

Source: Los Angeles Times Poll