In a modern society, the police responsibility is to ensure the personal safety of citizens, and to maintain law and order. Citizens security and safety directly correlate with the effectiveness of police work. The article reveals the results of a sociological survey conducted in 2014–2015, as well as analyzes the level of dependency of police activity from objective and subjective factors. The results showed that, in general, majority of citizens, regardless of affiliation to the socio-demographic groups, evaluate the activities of the police and its various department very high. Analysis of the data shows that the idea of police work in the mass consciousness is formed not only in the process of direct communication with citizens, but also under the influence of different mass media. Since Russians have had little experience with the police, mass media and other information sources are leading resource shaping citizens’ perceptions of police activities. The survey showed that the official channels of communication are the foundation for the formation of a positive image of the police in the mass consciousness, and informal channels of media produce a negative perception. Mass media priority in the formation of ideas about the police and at the same time the low level of citizen’s trust in police is forcing to talk about a significant overstatement when evaluating the effectiveness of police operations.