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Harrisburg police respond to the scene of a shooting Wednesday night in Harrisburg. Officers say shooting investigated as homicide. This marks the city's 15th homicide this year. The person was reported to be unresponsive about 5:30 p.m. in the area of North 15th Street in the city

(Megan Trimble | mtrimble@pennlive.com)

By Jonathan Lee and Jennifer Gibbs

Nationally reported crime statistics, based on crimes reported to the authorities, show a decline in both violent and property offenses throughout Pennsylvania since 2011.

But how accurate are those statistics?

The statistics depend on the public's tendency to report crime, and that depends, among many things, on public confidence in the police. If that confidence is lacking, people are less likely to report crime to their police. Consequently, official statistics may understate the true rate of crime.

It's one reason policing researchers pay a great deal of attention to the public attitude toward the police.

Besides, without public support, police are unable to do their jobs. Citizens are less likely to assist as witnesses to police investigations, they are less likely to cooperate with the police, and more.

The Penn State Harrisburg Criminal Justice Program recently conducted a poll whose findings are critical barometers of general police performance in Pennsylvania.

A random sample of 600 residents across the state was surveyed in October, 2014. Overall, the results are supportive of the police.

Most Pennsylvanians have at least some confidence in the police to protect them from violent crime (80.1 percent) and to solve crime (86.6 percent). A majority of Pennsylvanians (67.7 percent) trust their police.

However, the racial breakdown sheds light on an uncomfortable truth. While more than nine out of ten white residents reported moderate to high confidence in the police, less than three quarters of black residents reported the same.

There is a similar split in attitudes about police fairness, with about half (50.3 percent) of white Pennsylvanians rating the fairness of police highly or very highly, but less than one quarter (23.3 percent) of black Pennsylvanians doing the same.

And more than twice as many black residents (43.2 percent) than whites residents (20.4 percent) believe that the police presence in their neighborhood is inadequate.

Although the overall rating for police performance is good, this racial disparity should be taken seriously.

One way to enhance public confidence is community policing. When properly implemented, community policing would minimize the social distance between the police and the public and would ultimately improve the public confidence in the police.

A good example would be connecting police officers with school students in a way that shows the officers' personal side — how they spend leisure time and such.

Community policing like this would promote not only positive public attitude but also active community involvement in the broader scheme of crime prevention.

Effective operation of special task forces can also help improve public attitudes by noticeably decreasing crime.

When frequent and swift enforcements are in effect, it escalates the cost of committing crime.

Generally, drug dealers and cartel bosses are rational decision makers who don't carry on when the potential cost of their business outweigh the benefit.

The local government's strong will power and actual dispatching of mobile units would increase the cost of illegal activities and will consequently deter criminals. A palpable decline in crime rate will certainly raise public confidence in the police.

Recent efforts by Harrisburg Police and state Attorney General's Office, such as mobile street crimes unit, would be an example.

It would be premature to judge the success of those initiatives at this point, but the trend in other cities and research reports all bode well for them.

A few suggestions seem in order to maximize the public confidence in the police. Police are the most knowledgeable entity when it comes to crime and crime prevention.

They know where the hot spots are and what needs to be done. But scientific research can help make effective use of the intelligence that police gather. Local police can benefit from researchers' help in designing a safety initiative and evaluating its results.

Another suggestion is to establish custom-planned initiatives for each community. Each neighborhood has distinct characteristics.

This resonates with our unfortunate finding that racial disparity exists in the public confidence in the police. Local police need to identify the community-specific consensus in matters of public safety and develop plans accordingly.

After all, the police, community, academics, and others local government entities all have a role when it comes to making their city a safer place.

Jonathan Lee and Jennifer Gibbs are criminal justice professors in the School of Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg.