La percepción de depolicing en los mandos de la policía catalana

This study explores the perceptions of police commanders in the Catalan Police (Local Police and Mossos d'Esquadra) regarding depolicing among their officers, that is, the withdrawal from and avoidance of certain situations and interactions that are considered compromising or dangerous. The study aims to establish the extent to which supervisors consider depolicing exists in their organizations and what factors shape these perceptions. The analysis is based on the survey responses from 426 police officers. The data were analysed using basic descriptors and modelled using multiple regression. A significant portion of the commanders who answered the survey, 18%, believed that depolicing was indeed taking place among their officers. Similar to findings in other contexts as diverse as the North American one, the results obtained indicate a statistically significant relationship between perceptions of depolicing and perceptions of self-legitimacy (negative) and environmental conflict (positive). The results also showed that commanders leading units whose officers had more immediate and frequent contact with the public tended to report lower levels of depolicing.