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Introduction
Police officers are members of a unique occupational group and share a distinctive cultural orientation (Crank, 2004) comprising common perspectives, values, and assumptions (Nhan, 2014). As an intrinsic nature of the occupational environment, police officers may have to face various unpleasant situations, situational uncertainties, and danger (Crank, 2004; Kappeler et al. , 1998; Reiner, 2010; Skolnick, 1986; Westley, 1970). The stress and uncertainties of police occupation result in one of the strongest occupational subcultures (Violanti et al. , 2007). Formed through the interactions among officers, the police subculture provides assurance and protection for officers against external danger and threats like a "protective armour shielding the force" (Reiner, 2010, p. 122).
For every culture, there are always a number of cultural "themes." These themes are "dynamic affirmations," that are "declared or implied, and usually controlling behavior or stimulating activity" (Opler, 1945, p. 198). According to Kappeler et al. (1998, p. 100), cultural themes are central to police organizations because they regulate the pattern of "social interactions" of group members. For Crank (2004, p. 53), cultural themes are essential "building blocks" that represent common activities of most police departments. A widely acknowledged cultural theme is police cynicism, which has been described as a "pessimistic and suspicious outlook on the part of police officers toward their job, the public and society as a whole" (Caplan, 2003, p. 304). This cynical attitude, which contains a high level of distrust and disbelief, has been evidenced by researchers across different periods of time and national borders (Burke and Mikkelsen, 2005; Caplan, 2003; Graves, 1996; Loftus, 2010; Niederhoffer, 1967; Poole and Regoli, 1979; Wooden and Rogers, 2014). It obviously runs counter to the principles of contemporary policing in an era characterized by philosophical and strategic transfer toward a problem-solving-oriented and service-oriented style of policing.
In the USA, the transition toward community policing can be traced back to the 1980s on the basis of more than three decades of police research and practice that involved various efforts to enhance police-community relations, crime prevention, and the effectiveness of police performance (Roberg et al. , 2009). In 2002, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly promulgated the Notice of on Strengthening the Construction of Community Policing (MPS, 2002)....