Crime Reporting in Small Philippine Communities: The Role of Public Trust in Law Enforcement

Public trust in law enforcement impacts community safety and crime prevention. Trust gaps influence crime-reporting behavior and subsequently, the efficacy of policing. This paper focuses on the trust in law enforcement versus crime reporting behavior of the residents of Gasan, Marinduque. A quantitative descriptive-correlational method was employed, and data was gathered from 199 respondents with structured survey questionnaires. With a 199-sample size, 62.3% of respondents had moderate to high levels of trust towards law enforcement but 47.8% stated nonreporting of crimes due to fear of retaliation, or inaction from the authorities. Using Pearson’s correlation, analysis showed a statistically significant positive correlation (r = 0.412, p < 0.01) between the trust level and the probability of a crime report, which means that the greater the respondent’s trust in the police, the higher the likelihood of reporting crimes. Furthermore, regression analysis indicates that prior experiences with the police and how serious a crime is perceived to be, are strong predictors of reporting behavior (β = 0.289, p < 0.05). These findings support community-police relations programs and legislation aimed at restoring the trust of citizens in law enforcement agencies. Future research could consider longitudinal trends in trust dynamics and the effectiveness of intervention programs to improve crime reporting rates.