中国的警民合作:监控摄像头、社区效能与警务

Cooperation with Police in China:Surveillance Cameras,Neighborhood Efficacy and Policing

鉴于目前有关中国警民合作的研究较少,且有关监控摄像头对该合作之影响的认识发掘不足,本研究调查了监控摄像与社区集体效能、警察公正性及警察效力在民众与警察合作的意愿的形成中所存在的相互作用。本研究基于收集自中国某一南方城市751名居民的面对面调查采访数据,利用普通最小二乘法(OLS)回归分析,调查中国警民合作意愿的重要相关因素。结果显示,视频监控、集体效能、警察公正性及警察效力对合作意愿产生了积极的影响。值得注意的是,对于居住在集体效能水平高的社区的人以及认为警察公正性水平低的人而言,监控摄像头对其合作的促进作用最为显著。调查结果证实了正式与非正式社会控制在决定民众合作意愿方面所存在的关联,并重申了检验其理论交互效应的必要性。调查结果还有助于我们了解民众在中国背景下依靠视频监控决定其是否协助警察的深层原因。

Given the paucity of research on Chinese cooperation with the police and the underdevelopment of knowledge on the influence of surveillance videos on such cooperation,this study investigates the interplay of surveillance cameras and neighborhood collective efficacy,police fairness,and police effectiveness in shaping public willingness to cooperate with the police.Relying on face-to-face survey interview data collected from 751 residents in a southern city in China,this study used Ordinary Least Squares(OLS)regression analysis to examine the key correlates of Chinese willingness to cooperate with the police.The results reveal positive influences of video surveillance,collective efficacy,police fairness,and police effectiveness on cooperative desires.Notably,the cooperation-promoting effect of surveillance cameras is most profound among people who live in neighborhoods with high levels of collective efficacy and people who perceive low levels of police fairness.These findings affirm that formal and informal social control interlock in determining the public’s cooperative willingness,and reiterate the need for testing theoretical interactions.They also help us understand the underlying reasons that may explain the public’s reliance on video surveillance to make their decisions about helping the police in the context of China.