2017 Volume 55 Issue 1 Pages 15-27
Focusing on the crime victim policies of the police, which were introduced in 1996 and were later expanded, this study examined how their efforts were reflected in the bereaving family members’ evaluations of the police. 244 bereaving family members of traffic offenses, murder, and other crimes were asked to evaluate the police officers in charge of their cases, with reference to “information provision,” “consideration,” and “investigation.” According to the year in which the incident had occurred, the families were assigned to three groups into which were divided by the timing of implementation of two major crime victim policies of the police; victim policy guidelines and Guidelines of the Chief of the Police Headquarters on the Implementation of Assistance to Victims of Crime. A comparison of the three groups showed that the advancement of victim policies had positive effects on the bereaving family members’ evaluations in the abovementioned three aspects. Moreover, their evaluations for these policies increased the bereaving family members’ confidence in police officers, and through this trust, improved their psychological state and their confidence in the overall judicial systems.
