That's right, it was the Wright and Rossi study.
One finding was this:
"...34% said that when thinking about committing a crime they either “often” or “regularly” worried that they “[m]ight get shot at by the victim”; and 57% agreed with the statement, “Most criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police.”...
That's a far cry from
"...criminals interviews stating that while they didn't fear the cops, because they kept to a set timetable, and always handled things in a predictable manner, civilians pop up out of nowhere, at any time, and not having the uniform police code to follow, could do anything?......"
One might wonder why being shot by a victim might be regarded by
some criminals as posing a
greater risk than running into the police, but nothing was said about a "set timetable" (where did that come from?). predictability, civilians "popping out of nowhere" ((
victims "popping out of nowhere"?), or a "uniform police code".
One might, however, reasonably conclude that the uniformed constable on patrol is very visible and can be avoided before a crime is initiated, and the possibly armed victim is not.