Race and Perceptions of Police Misconduct

Abstract

This article examines perceptions of police misconduct in the United States and the factors that influence these perceptions. Using data from a large, nationally representative survey of whites, African Americans, and Hispanics, we examine how citizens' views of four types of police misconduct-verbal abuse, excessive force, unwarranted stops, and corruption-are shaped by race and other factors, including personal and vicarious experiences with police officers, exposure to mass media coverage of police behavior, and neighborhood conditions. Results show that race remains a key factor in structuring attitudes toward police misconduct even after controlling for these other variables. Race is a strong predictor in large part because blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to report having negative interactions with police, to be exposed to media reports of police misconduct, and to live in high-crime neighborhoods where policing may be contentious-each of which increases perceptions of police misconduct. The findings are consistent with the group-position model of race relations. Relations between the police and minority groups are a continuing problem in the United States and other multiracial societies. Surveys consistently document racial differences in perceptions of the police, with minorities more likely than whites to harbor negative views. While racial differences have been amply documented, less is known about the sources of these differences. This article explores this question through an examination of citizens' perceptions and reported experiences regarding several types of police misconduct. Theoretical Background The Group-Position Thesis Blacks and whites often perceive American social institutions in starkly different terms, and views of criminal justice are no exception. Indeed, race is one of the most salient predictors of attitudes toward the police and other criminal justice institutions: blacks are more likely than whites to express dissatisfaction with various aspects of policing. Much less is known about Hispanics' views of the police, however, and existing studies are limited either by focusing on Hispanics alone (Carter 1985), by comparing them only to whites (Holmes 1998), or by lumping blacks and Hispanics together as "nonwhite" or "minority." Few studies systematically compare blacks, whites, and Hispanics, and this literature is insufficient to determine whether Hispanic perceptions of the police take the form of a "minority-group" perspective similar to that of blacks, whether their views more closely align with those of whites, or whether they take an intermediate position in a white-Hispanic-African American "racial-hierarchy" model. We also do not fully understand why racial differences exist in citizens' relations with the The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of the article.

social construction of neighborhood crime by the news media

“…Due to the relatively few number of these descriptors, conclusive trends in the language cannot be identified and the following comparisons should be interpreted with caution. Trust descriptors are more common in violent crime reports from low disadvantage and Black neighborhoods than their high counterparts, a trend that once again aligns with previous findings on perceptions of the police (Weitzer & Tuch, 2004;Gau & Brunson, 2010). There were more descriptors of trust in reports from high Hispanic communities than low Hispanic communities.…”

“…Descriptions of incompetence are more common in reports of crime from high disadvantage and Black neighborhoods than their low counterparts. This is not surprising, given overall negative perceptions of police in these communities (see Weitzer & Tuch, 2004;Gau & Brunson, 2010).…”

Exploring Causes of Bribery: A Case Study in a Public Organization in Malaysia

“…While other researchers (Kane, 2002;Weitzer & Tuch, 2004;Lersch, bazley, Mieczkowski & Childs, 2008;Ivkovic, 2009;) mentioned race as an antecedent of misbehavior followed by Schafer (2010) and Gordon (2010) found ineffective leadership is also a cause of misbehavior. Thus shows minimum education, race and ineffective leadership are determinants of misbehavior.…”

“…Anderson, 2011;Loyens, 2009;Barker & Carter, 1977;Maher, 2008;Felson & Clarke, 1998;Ivkovic, 2009;2005;Weitzer & Tuch, 2004;Schafer, 2010;Gordon, 2010;Benoit & Dubra, 2004;Solomons, 2010;Quah, 2014;2015, Goldschmidth & Anonymous, 2008 certainly helped in understanding how code of silence, culture, education, opportunity, race, traits & habits, power, norms, environment treats and temptations and pressure from management may lead to misbehavior. Therefore exploring causes of bribery among enforcement agency from Malaysian context is much appreciated.…”

Dark networks : criminal collaboration in Australian police forces

“…In other words, cases of police corruption can decrease the public's trust in the police, which can cause a deterioration in relations between citizens and officers and, as a result, reduce the effectiveness of policing in a community (Weitzer & Tuch, 2004;Wortley, Hagan, & Macmillan, 1997). Without the public's involvement police efforts in fighting crime are severely hampered.…”