NCJ Number
226471
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 157-182
Date Published
March 2009
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Based on data from citizens surveys, policing characteristics, and city context for 33 U.S. cities, this study tested a variety of explanations for variation in mistrust of local police between Blacks and Whites.
Abstract
Findings indicate that almost all of the aggregate race gap between Blacks and Whites regarding mistrust of the police can be accounted for by combining individual and community-level explanations. Because Blacks are generally less interested than Whites in politics and the relevance of government for their lives, have a lower quality of life compared to Whites, and have individual-level variables that bring them in contact with the police, they tend to mistrust police as being very helpful in improving their lives. Previous research has produced mixed evidence concerning the importance of the neighborhood context. The authors of the current article argue that such research results, coupled with the fact that most studies are typically based on only one or two cities, means that researchers have not yet adequately examined the race gap in attitudes toward police, because city-level context is a significant factor. City context is a significant variable because police departments vary in their effectiveness and their approaches to the communities they serve. In addition, Blacks are more likely than Whites to live in cities and neighborhoods where there is a high crime rate. Effective crime control raises the level of trust in the police. When there is fear and anxiety about crime, police are generally viewed as ineffective. Still, when crime-reduction strategies call for “more police officers on the street,” relatively higher levels of mistrust of the police among Blacks may be sustained even in the face of crime reduction, perhaps because there is more contact with the police in high-crime neighborhoods where a disproportionate number of Blacks live. 6 tables, 58 references, and 2 appendixes