COVID-19 & Police Perceptions: A Qualitative Study of Perceptions of the Police that includes the Asian-American/Pacific Islander Community

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Jessica Valdez

Abstract or Description

Over the last decade, police-community relations have been strained due to perceptions that law enforcement are racist and target minorities using lethal force excessively. To rebuild those relations, it is necessary to understand how citizens perceive the police, the causes of these perceptions, if these views are based on accurate data, and how we can begin to change these perceptions. A review of multiple studies regarding these topics indicates that perception of effectiveness of the police, as well as perceptions about crime and safety were strong predictors of how satisfied citizens were with the police, and how common they thought misconduct was in their neighborhoods. Additionally, mainstream media is one of the foremost sources of information about law enforcement. However, many studies of police perceptions were done before the year 2020 and primarily address Black, White, and Hispanic/Latino populations, failing to include Asian-American/Pacific Islander views. This is even more relevant to study considering the increase in hate crimes towards the Asian-American/Pacific Islander community because of COVID-19, and how that may have affected police perceptions. Moreover, the concept of prosecuting a hate crime is also something relatively new to the criminal justice system. The first federal statutes were not passed until the 1980s, and corresponding state laws followed in the 1990s. Through surveys and interviews, this project aims to understand the current views the Asian-American/Pacific Islander community has regarding law enforcement. The influence of race, pre-Covid personal experiences with the police, and experiences with the police when reporting a hate crime will be examined. This presentation will examine results from a pre-test of a survey of Asian-American/Pacific Islander students and volunteer participants recruited from online forums that was administered so the final survey can be refined. This presentation also discusses the pre-test process and subsequent changes to the final survey.