Improving Police Community Relations: Understanding Public Perceptions, Influences, & Facts

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Jessica Valdez

Abstract or Description

Over the last decade, police-community relations have been strained due to perceptions that law enforcement officers targets minorities using lethal force excessively. To begin to rebuild police relationships within communities, it is necessary to understand how citizens truly feel about the police, the causes of police distrust, and how we can begin to change these perceptions. A review of multiple studies of policing indicates that race may not be the most significant factor affecting police-community relations, or perceptions of effective policing. Instead, perceptions about crime and safety were stronger predictors of how satisfied citizens were with the police and how common they thought police misconduct occurred in their neighborhoods. The mainstream media also contributes to public attitudes about law enforcement. It is a source of negative portrayals of the police - often without background information about use of force, police training, or data related to the frequency of use of force incidents. This bias has the potential to contribute to perceptions that use of force is common and that the police are racially biased. Studies on use of force showed no difference in decision making based on race. More realistic coverage, as well as policy changes to improve neighborhoods and reduce crime, a focus on community policing, and better training in de-escalation and predictors of potential lethal force situations can potentially aid in improving the police-community relationship. While research is still ongoing, this presentation will give an overview of the trends that the data collection has revealed to date. The influence of race, personal experiences with the police, and media consumption will be examined, and the ways in which we can begin to improve those perceptions.