AbstractBackground: Suspicious activity is something out of the ordinary or out of place considering the location. Public intelligence on timely suspicious activity identification and reporting to stakeholders in structural elements of criminal justice system would facilitate methodologies in identifying suspects, prosecuting and convicting criminals while exonerating innocent people. Aim & Objectives: The present study aimed to assess knowledge and attitude towards identifying and reporting suspicious activities among patients attending private dental college. Material and Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted in the Department of Public Health Dentistry, I.T.S Dental College on a convenient sample of 315 OPD patients aged 18 to 59 years during July to august 2012 with informed consent. Study subjects were interviewed through structured, pretested, validated questionnaire on 5 point likert scale in vernacular language by one calibrated investigator. Data was collected on socio demography, awareness on recognizing and reporting suspicious activity. SPSS 16 was employed with statistical level of significance at p<0.05 and 95% CI. Results: 82% subjects had slight knowledge about suspicious activities in which 3% have ever reported it. A total of 87% subjects had taken an initiative for creating awareness among individuals. 67.43% people think that Public service announcements (TV, radio) are effective source of learning suspicious activity. Conclusion: The results of this study add new insights into the motivators and barriers of why individuals do or do not report suspicious activity. This study also stimulates further research on exploring methods to identify and report suspicious activity and also shows that law enforcement and community partners can better develop and adapt strategies to improve community outreach and education efforts that enhance the public’s awareness and reporting of suspicious activity.
Keywords: Suspicious activity; Law enforcement; Public awareness; Media; Education; Criminal justice system; Forensic odontology; Identification.