Why Do Perceptions of Police Vary?

By Karen Sternheimer

A recent study published by the Pew Research Center found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that people’s views on police performance vary based on race. Blacks were four times more likely to tell researchers that they have no confidence in police in their communities than whites were. Where does this vast disparity come from? Why does this matter?

Differing views on policing is a great example of how one’s social location—our history, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and nationality, among other factors—shapes the way that we view the world. Social location is related to our literal location too, and how our experiences in that location impact our perceptions.

We sometimes have a hard time understanding how people might see things so differently from the way we see things, especially if our experiences with something have been mainly positive. Peoples’ perceptions of policing creates such an emotional divide because it highlights these disparate experiences, experiences which me might not be aware of or understand.

Like many white Americans who responded the Pew survey, I grew up in a community where the police were viewed as a protective force. (Seventy-eight percent of white respondents said that their local police do a good or excellent job protecting people from crime.)

I remember the police coming to our house only twice growing up. We had called them both times, and they arrived within minutes for what turned out to be false alarms about possible intruders. They were professional, courteous and polite both times. Because of these experiences, when I see a police car drive by in my neighborhood I feel protected, not threatened.

Not all people have had this experience; for those who grow up in a community where police surveillance feels threatening rather than reassuring, a police car can create a sense of anxiety, dread, and fear. Take the case of Frank Jude, Jr., an African-American man brutally beaten by off-duty police while attending a party in Milwaukee in 2004. After a friend called the police to report the attack, officers arrived and participated in beating Jude further. Approximately eight officers were involved in his beating.

Three officers were initially tried by the state and acquitted by an all-white jury. This decision led to public outrage and demonstrations, as well as to a call for federal charges, which were soon filed. While the officers involved would soon plead guilty or be convicted of federal charges, the incident and their initial acquittal served as reinforcement to those who might have had bad experiences with police officers who abuse their power.

According to the Pew survey, only one in three blacks surveyed thought that police in their community do a good or excellent job using the right amount of force (compared with three-fourths of whites sampled). Less than one in three blacks thought that departments do a good or excellent job holding officers accountable for misconduct, compared with seven in ten whites.

This disparity in perception has real consequences. Sociologists Matthew Desmond, Andrew V. Papachristos, and David S. Kirk studied the effects of the Jude beating on the likelihood of Milwaukee residents to call the police. Their study, “Police Violence and Citizen Crime Reporting in the Black Community,” involved an analysis of 911 calls made to Milwaukee police the year before and after the 2004 incident, as well as several other high-profile incidents from other parts of the country.

Using time series analysis and carefully controlling for possible intervening variables (such as changes in crime rates, neighborhood demographics, and poverty rates), the researchers found that:

[P]ublicized cases of police violence against unarmed black men have a clear and significant impact on citizen crime reporting. Once the story of Frank Jude’s beating appeared in the press, Milwaukee residents, especially people in black neighborhoods, were less likely to call the police, including to report violent crime. Both white and black citizens opinions of the police may drop after a high-profile brutality case against unarmed black men… but our study found that only people living in black neighborhoods altered their crime-reporting behavior for a significant period of time after the publication of such events. The dampening effect of the Jude beating on citizen crime reporting persisted for months, resulting in a net loss of more than 20,000 911 calls. It is one thing to disparage law enforcement in your thoughts and speech after an instance of police violence or corruption makes the news. It is quite another to witness a crime, or even to be victimized, and refuse to report it.

Desmond, Papachristos and Kirk’s findings remind us that police violence has an impact on more than just those directly involved, but mistrust of police can reduce the public’s willingness to cooperate with police investigations or to call police when a crime has been committed. For those that have experienced events similar to Frank Jude, calling the police may not seem like a good idea. When police are not seen as neighborhood protectors, citizens may take on this role themselves, leading to retribution and more violence.

While we might hear about police violence more now thanks to the social media and the ubiquity of cell phone video, this is not a new problem. As The Atlantic reported last year, concerns about police led to the civil unrest in cities across the country during the 1960s.

Following these events, a federal investigation studied the roots of the problem and published their findings in a 1967 book known as the Kerner Report. The report noted the pervasiveness of racial segregation and police brutality as key causes of civil unrest, and recommended that cities move away from the militarized policing that had begun in many of the poorest sections of America’s cities. Nearly 50 years on, we can see that the Kerner commission’s findings were not heeded, and the same issues that sparked uprisings in the 1960s are still with us today.

Understanding the concept social location can help us better understand why people might view issues like policing in a very different way. It is a useful tool for going beyond thinking our perspective is the only viewpoint, and instead one viewpoint among many.

What other controversial issues can the concept of social location help us better understand?

Comments

[Sabrina Seward]

I agree with this article. Police violence has an impact on more than those directly involved but also those who are outside the black communities as well. This semester in my sociology class we learned that according to C. Wright Mills, sociological imagination is the way people perceive situations and circumstances in a vast social relation showing how people collaborate in different interactions that are influenced by these perceptions. In this case, racism can also be looked at as a result of social status and social constructs of what is makeup by some social groups to be acceptable. The make-believe image of people being different or better than others using race, natural looks, social status, wealth, religious beliefs, and many other differences are all a part of the foundation of racism. When it comes to how the police treat people of ethnic backgrounds it sends a message to everyone that blacks are less valued and white people are. Ethnic communities are less likely to call the police for help, and white communities feel way safer with police around than ethnic races. Racial profiling is done a lot in poor communities, and only a few in white communities because of the few black people that may reside in those types of communities. I believe that the majority of the police fear ethnic groups and tend to stereotype them based on the media views and entertainment depictions of the image of ethnic groups of people. It is not right, but it seems that racism plays a big part of society in that most people think that certain depictions of a type of group are real and factual. The news appears to feed the perception of certain groups of individuals in the way that they label them "thug, punks, and other racial bias remarks. However, for the white people who seem to do the same type of crimes are not labeled so harshly but rather are said to be misunderstood and are also treated differently. When a black man does a crime that may not be as severe, he may lose his life. But if a white man does a crime far worse maybe even murder he gets protected by the police and the justice system that is supposed to protect all citizens.
S. Seward

[senica l Anderson]

I read and hear about this all the time. I always wonder if it was any truth to this but as time goes by. It's just proven my thoughts right. I thought by now we would have been done with racism. But I guess not. The world is getting worse by the day and it's not just black on black it's white on white crimes also but black on black is even worst then anything. I hope one day the police brutality and racism stop.

[Kane]

Ever since the surge of social media, we've seen a surge of video clips showing the mistreatment of individuals by police officers. After reading your article, I can see how the perception could vary depending on how someone's upbringing was. Their surroundings and own dealings with law enforcement could clearly shape their opinion. I believe that not all officers are created equal. In every profession, you have good employees as well as bad ones. Darkness cannot be flushed out more darkness. Only light can brighten things up. For my family and I's sake, I hope and pray that we can all one day find piece.

[Michelle James]

I agree that people perceptions will be different depending on the experience. Some people have had really good encounter with cops and some have not. Black people in my opinion tend to have more aggressive and violent encounter than whites. Not that long ago the KKK rally had people pushing against law enforcement yet nobody got hurt, and they were being hostile and violent. Had black held a rally I know in my heart it wouldn't have gone so smoothly. You have football players getting repercussions for using their fifth amendment rights. But yet these people who rallied and pushed on law enforcement were able to protest. Black seem to be getting killed left and right, not saying they didn't do wrong just saying that these people should still be alive. I feel like we are experiencing exactly what the bible speaks of.

[Brock Pellerin]

I agree that now with cell phone videos being taken at every altercation with police that this will never get any better. They are always to quick to want to video the negative side of an altercation. You very seldom see any video of a police officer out on patrol who just stops by a random person just to say Hi. Or play with a group of kids for a few minutes. There are some officers who let the position of authority and demand respect go to there heads, and then you have other officers who are just as easy going and give you the respect you deserve as long as you give them the same respect. I hope one day we can start to see the positive side of police officers. I would also like to see them treat everyone the same no matter what type of neighborhood you live in.

[Quinyonna Rainey]

I agree, people will have different races will have different perceptions on police encounters. More than often police approach blacks in a aggressive manor, whereas if a person from another race was to be in the situation, it would be handled differently. Urban communities are less likely to call the police for help, due to police violence. While white communities feel safer with police around than ethnic races.

[Kimolyn Paul]

This article gives a great overview of how Americans view the police and their approach to handling certain situations. Different races have different views on how the police responds to certain situation in certain communities. In most of the situations, the outcomes have cause a great deal of tension among the communities. In the past, the mixed perceptions of the police only occurred more in the larger, major cities but now the views about police have rapidly increased in the smaller cities and community. Even for the people who never had an encounter with the police, social media has intensified the emotional likes or dislikes of the police.
It is at this point now where the police are perceived a certain way because of pass history and what is seen on social media. There are a few concerns that I have: first, where does the person's perception of a police officer really come from? Was it from personal experiences, something they witnessed or just being a part of the group. Secondly, does the police officers approach to deal with a certain situations starts with resolving the situation by any means necessary or in a less hostile approach. Or maybe they are fueled from pass history, personal experiences or what is seen on social media.

Article: Why Do Perceptions of Police Vary?
By Karen Sternheimer

[lovey francis]

I think the Police can sometime treat black race more poorly than white race is based on their own ignorance. To assume one race is better than another based on one and only one thing which is the color of one's skin tone is an illusion, and fear, and hate and greed all mixed up together.
It is all a brain wash situation. If you were white and dying for need of blood would you refuse that black person blood because of the color of his skin and dye if you did well you must come out of the dark, because that is were you will go because God is Love. We are all created equal in his eyes and we must all love one another (that is light). Love never loses.

[alejandro raymond]

I agree that everyone has a different point of view based on personal experiences with our policing forces but no matter your point of view there still needs to be a level of respect for someone who is willing to put your needs and life above theirs. I understand not every police officer is good out there but there are many ways to mitigate that while associating with tact.