Het vertrouwen van allochtonen en autochtonen in de politie: geen zwart-wit verhaal in Genk en Houthalen-Helchteren.

Abstract

We focus in this article on two research questions: (1) do non-natives living in Belgium have much or little confidence in the police, and (2) which factors determine how many trust non-natives put in the police. The data we analyse were collected in the former coalmining municipalities Genk and Houthalen-Helchteren (265 face-to-face interviews with inhabitants of Turkish descent, 191 face-to-face interviews with inhabitants of Moroccan descent and 284 face-to-face interviews with native Belgians). The results show that non-natives do not have less confidence in the police than natives living in less affluent neighbourhoods. Inhabitants with a Turkish background even put more trust in the police. Non-natives’ confidence in the police is to a certain extent determined by the outcomes of police work, but it is more influenced by the way they feel treated by the police, local government and the native community.