Abstract:

Following many recent police-involved shootings, police-community interactions have become a highly publicized problem in the Philippines. Numerous studies have demonstrated that various factors influence attitudes and behaviors towards police, including neighborhood context, race, offender status, and prior exposure to procedural justice. Contact with criminal justice system actors can begin at a young age. Numerous studies have been conducted on popular views regarding the police. However, little is known about the effect of social media on the attitudes an perceptions of youth toward police. We used the data from the previous study perception of police scale (POPS) to measure and determine the perception of youth towards police. Subsequently, it seeks to determine the satisfaction level of the youths regarding the police work, also the factors that influence the perceptions of the youth towards them. After conducting a cross-sectional survey and using multiple regression analysis, it enables to determine the relationship of dependent and independent variables. It was found out that police performance significantly influences public perception. Also, it was revealed that social media moderates the relationship between police performance and public perception. These findings will help the police enhance their community relations thorough social media and improve their performance to have positive perceptions from the public. It means that social media in the current setting plays a significant role in police-community relations. agencies can use this platform to disseminate information, build trust from the youths, and improve police-citizen relations. In addition to continuing this research, future researchers can compare the results to national youth perception, allowing for national application. Moreover, they can also expand the age of the participants for them to determine if age affects the perception towards the police.