Exploring Empirical and Theo-Ethical Paths to Public Safety Reform

Background and Purpose:

As public safety reform becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, social workers are emerging as key co-responders in community crisis teams. However, the misalignment between public safety policies, frontline experiences, and community trust, especially within BIPOC populations, has generated a critical gap in measurement tools that capture this complexity. This study introduces and evaluates a newly developed public safety perception scale that integrates belief systems, behavior, occupational identity, and BIPOC concerns to improve alignment between community realities and social work practices.

Methods:

This study tested a 24-item Likert-type survey instrument measuring trust in helping professionals, public safety perceptions, personal safety behaviors, and belief-informed attitudes. Amongst a sample (n) of 222 Tri-State area participants, the electronically distributed scale was grounded in theoretical constructs relating to community-based safety, racialized experiences of enforcement, and theo-ethical narratives around justice and care. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the scale’s latent structure. Two theoretical models were compared: a one-factor model reflecting general public safety perception, and a three-factor model based on the theorized sub-constructs of Social Work Management (SWM), Quality Law Enforcement Encounters (QLEE), and Adherence to Sacred Texts and Protection of Vulnerable Groups (ASTPV). Also, correlation analysis using Pearson’s r was used to determine the extent to which a belief-behavior connection could be detected through testing self-reported door-locking scores and the sum of participant’s safety perception scores.

Results:

Factor analysis comparing two competing models revealed a better fit for the data in the one-factor model encompassing general public safety perceptions as opposed to the three-factor model. While the one-factor model included 8 high-loading variables, the three-factor model offered richer insight into how intersecting community dynamics shape safety perception. Key findings also included: a moderate positive correlation (r(194)=.35, p=.00) between door-locking and scores indicating positive perceptions of public safety; and, social workers receiving slightly higher trust and effectiveness ratings (88.9% and 79.3%) than their law enforcement counterparts (74.3% and 61.8%) with both groups receiving efficacy scores lower than their trust scores.

Conclusion:

This preliminary investigation of the survey tool indicated the positive benefits of studying more belief based tools for social workers and helping professionals to assess and respond to the disconnect between perceptions of trustworthiness and effectiveness of helping professionals responding to public safety issues. This project also offered insights into the disconnect between public perception and public safety policies concerning substance abuse and in-school display of the Ten Commandments to the extent that there can be further research into what public safety reforms more accurately reflect the will of the people. Also, in terms of correlation analysis, the moderate positive belief-behavior correlation related to personal safety habits (i.e., door-locking) indicated that public safety perceptions are tied to behavior to the extent that people have agency or proactive participation in their own protection. Moreover, future public safety reform efforts could be most fruitful with continued social work emphasis on empowerment as well as trauma-informed and spiritually-sensitive support to individuals and communities in crisis.