Study of immigrant trust in police reveals concern in Flanders
According to a study published by the Panoptican Journal, Turkish immigrants were found to have more trust in police than the Flemish, while differences between Flemish and Moroccan immigrants were negligible. The study was carried out by researched from Hasselt University, who conducted the survey in the former mining towns of Henk and Houthalen-Helchteren, questioning some 740 respondents. “The trust of immigrants in the police is important. Minorities are confronted with victimhood and trouble more than ethnics. Cooperation between the police and this community is thus necessary for an excellent police handling. But the readiness to cooperate with police exists only if there is sufficient trust,” said researcher Maarten Van Craen. 61 percent of Turkish immigrants have much of very much trust in the police, but for Moroccan immigrants and Flemish the numbers are 46 percent and 49 percent, respectively.