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People of color commonly hold more negative attitudes toward the police than do Whites. Research in this area, however, generally examines the views of African Americans, Whites, and, more recently, Hispanics. The present study contributes to this literature by exploring perceptions of the police across a sample of African American, Hispanic, Asian, and White respondents. Multivariate analysis is used to test several hypotheses linking perceptions of law enforcement to neighborhood disorder, victimization, contact with the police, and gender. The influence of cultural history on attitudes toward authority and the implications for crime control policies are discussed.

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Citizens often have misconceptions about law enforcement. This misinformation may contribute to distrust and heightened concerns about force and misconduct. Agencies attempt to address this by promoting procedural justice and providing community education on police practices. Thus far, past research has not been clear on the actual utility of community education on changing public perceptions. Recent funding has allowed one department to host 14 one-day community police academies (CPAs) to educate residents about policing topics to enhance trust and improve public perceptions of the department. The current project analyzes data collected CPA events to determine the effects on citizen knowledge of police procedures and the effect of this knowledge on attitudes toward the police. Results indicate that while CPAs were effective at educating citizens about practices and improving trust in law enforcement, the increased knowledge was not associated with improvements to public trust. The knowledge obtained at the CPA was, however, predictive of lower concerns about use of force. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.