Bojan Janković
@kpu.edu.rs
Department of Criminalistics
University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies : Belgrade, RS
EDUCATION
Faculty of Law of Kragujevac University: Kragujevac, RS - LLD
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Law, Safety Research
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Bojan Jankovic, Vladimir M Cvetkovic, Zvonimir Ivanovic, Aleksandar Ivanov, Svetlana Jovanovic, and Bozidar Otasevic
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs, Institute for Research and European Studies - Bitola
Vladimir M. Cvetković, Aleksandar Dragašević, Darko Protić, Bojan Janković, Neda Nikolić, and Predrag Milošević
Elsevier BV
Bojan Janković, Vladimir M. Cvetković, Saša Milojević, and Zvonimir Ivanović
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Bojan Janković and Vladimir Miroljub Cvetković
Emerald
PurposeThe aim of the study is to determine the perception of general public on the Serbian police behaviors in combating COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the perception of the citizens how successful the police units were in fulfilling their tasks.Design/methodology/approachDue to the state of emergency declared due to COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the restriction of movement and the need for social distance, the data collection for this study had to be conducted via the online survey platform (Google.doc). The study was conducted during March–April 2020, only four weeks after the state of emergency was declared. The participants were invited to complete the online questionnaire in their native language by using the snowball sampling strategy focused on recruiting the general public via social media tools.FindingsConsidering the fact that police officers are not sufficiently prepared and trained to respond in these specific circumstances, it is necessary to improve their engagement in the future by conducting appropriate training, procuring adequate resources, implementing adequate planning activities, etc. The results of the multivariate regressions of public perception preparedness subscale show that the most important predictor is gender and it explains 23.6% of the variance in preparedness subscale. The remaining variables did not have significant effects on preparedness. This model with all mentioned independent variables explains 6.1% of the variance of preparedness subscale.Originality/valueBearing in mind that there were no completed studies on public perception of police behaviors about the COVID-19 disaster in Serbia, the research has a considerable scientific and social importance.