Tuesday, November 25, 2014

National Institute of Justice Says that Bad Perception of Police Comes from Personal Interactions with Police, Media, and the Discrimination of Different Groups

Police arrest a man in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 18
Photo from: www.nbcnews
In the past few months, there has been much talk about how all law enforcement are out in communities discriminating different groups of people. Specifically we are hearing much about the issues in Ferguson, Missouri. In Ferguson, where a white police officer shot a young black man, there has been much talk about how police officers are racist or try discriminate different groups of people. There are riots all over the city over the shooting of this young black man. This has led to many black and even white people all around the nation viewing police officers as "dirty." We now see the many people, especially in Ferguson, not respecting the authority of police, and view all law enforcement as unreliable and untrustworthy. Why do people have these views? The National Institute of Justice gives us three different thing that cause communities to perceive police as "dirty." The three things are police interactions, media, and discrimination.


Professor Christine White of the University of Maryland says that citizens perception of police mainly comes from personal interactions 


Personal interactions with police can be anything from a traffic stop, an interaction in a public place, or just a simple conversation. Not only will people perceive cops based on these types of interactions, but they will also view cops based on the interactions that close friends or family members have with them. If a family member has a bad interaction with a police officer then normally anyone that knows the individual personally will usually feel the same way. I asked Professor Christine White, a Criminal Justice Professor at the University of Maryland, her professional opinion on what she thinks is the main cause of why people view the police in a bad light. This was her response:






The public's personal interactions with law enforcement officers is the main cause of how a citizen will view the law. People will form their own opinion from a personal interaction or through an interaction of a close family member or friend. Citizens focus mainly on how the officer treats them. Regardless of the outcome of the interaction (ticket, etc) people just want to see the police treat them fair and respectful. Research shows that people tend to report more positively if the officer treats them fairly and with respect then if the officer was perceived to be rude or unfair toward that citizen. Citizens tend to act respectful toward law enforcement if they show them the same respect. The fact of the matter is that most people have had a bad interaction with the police. People tend to hold onto these incidents and discriminate all police officers as disrespectful, untrustworthy, or not fit for their job. 

She mentions that certain communities tend to have a bad perception based on different things. She mentioned as people age, then there trust levels tend to decrees. She says that certain groups, race, age, gender, etc., might view the police in a different manner than the other. For example, because of the issue in Ferguson, many black citizens are viewing white police as racist toward black people. National Institute of Justice along with Professor White says that the number one reason for how the public views law enforcement is based on their interactions.

The NIJ says that another cause of police perception is through what is heard in the media

The media is a big indicator on whether the public will perceive law enforcement with respect and trust. Most of the population sees what is being said on the news and believes in to be true, or at least have some truth to it. If the media is reporting an incident in which a police officer might have made a mistake,(Ferguson) then the public could look at that and think that all police officers are corrupt, even if not all of them are corrupt. For instance, if a Hispanic person lives in a area where there is a lot of crime and regularly hear about the misconduct of police toward Hispanics, then they are much more likely to believe that police misconduct occurs. Tuch and Weitzer(1997, p 642) analyzed data gathered before police brutality incidents and found that there was a decline in approval ratings following an incident of police brutality was reported through the media.


Another area of perceptions comes from the discrimination of different groups


Research says that minorities are found to be more likely to perceive the police in a bad way than whites. National Institute of Justice says that minorities more frequently report that police officers treated them unfairly based on their race or ethnicity. Racial minority perceptions that the police lack legitimacy could lead to a great deal of distrust in a society. Even though data shows that whites are more likely to view  police in a better light, race has not been found to directly influence the way people 
form their views on law enforcement. Researchers conclude that race affects satisfaction with the police indirectly in addiction to other factors like the level of crime in a neighborhood. Black people perceive the police as discriminating against them white whites no not see the discrimination against black people as a major problem. These statistics show that there is a separation between certain communities and law enforcement. 






Professor White says that based on the perception that people have of law enforcement determines whether or not they will report a crime

Having a bad perception, dislike, or untrustworthy view of a police officer creates a barrier between police and certain groups of people. This creates much distrust and separation between the officers and citizens. Does the bad relationship help make people more likely to commit crime? Is this more likely to help deter crime?





When Professor White was asked this question, she said that it is not more likely to do either. It may play a small part, but she said that it is more likely to determine whether or not people are willing to report a crime. When people feel that they cannot trust law enforcement, they tend to not want to report a crime seeing that they cannot trust them. People will be willing to report crimes to the authority when they trust the police and are confident of their ability.  

Thomas Creek, PG County Patrol Officer says that they can fix some of these issues by gaining the trust of the community and getting to know them through community activities.


When talking to Thomas Creek, Prince Georges County Patrol Officer, off video, I asked him what does he feel could be done in the communities to help build that relationship with citizens? He said that we could build the relationship by creating community activities to create bonding opportunities. He said that police want the community to be able to trust and have confidence in them. Thomas Creek said, "Police want the community understand that we are people just like them and are not some type of robot that is out to get them." Surveys of police officers have been taken and many thought it would be a good idea to gain the communities trust through community activities. Community things like five on five basketball with people in their neighborhoods. Officer Creek said things like monthly question and answer sessions where people can ask officers things that they have questions about.Thomas Creek said that when the communities are able to recognize that not all police officers are corrupt then that is when we will see the bad relationships to go down. "Citizens need to start to build a relationship with officers, and vice versa, so we can all work together as a team and not playing the good side and bad side roles."

Professor White says that bad police perception will start to decrees as the building of trust starts to increase

Professor White mentions history when she answers the question of whether she thinks that the bad perception will always be a problem in America. She refers to the past and how the status quo does not remain the status quo. We always make movements in order to improve things. Once we start to make improvements then we will start to see things get better. Improvements could be some of the things that Officer Creek mentioned in his statement. Will there always be a bad perception problem?



Professor white says that if law enforcement and communities are not able to find a way to get along and start to trust each other then we will see very slow progression or even no progression at all. She mentions that it is not one group or the other that is at fault, it is both groups that need to make improvements. The police need to have a better understanding of peoples needs, and the right way to go about solving issues that are beneficial to the whole community. On the other hand, people in communities need to understand that not every cop is there to do them harm. In fact, there are very few that are "dirty cops." They need to stop perceiving all cops as bad people and see that cops are there in order to be a service to their communities, and ultimately protect them. Communities need to realize that when police officers enforce minor laws then they are doing that in order to keep the community safe. Once we learn to trust, believe, and depend on each other, then that is when we will see an improvement in the relationship between law enforcement and communities and ultimately make communities better.

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