Good Cop,Bad Cop,Black Cop,White Cop: Unraveling Public Perceptions of Police Use of Force

Abstract

Participants in this study were presented with a police-citizen interaction involving force but the race of the officer and his prior conduct with the community was varied. Findings show that while varying the race of a police officer does not affect participant judgments about the officer’s behavior, his redeemability, nor his punishment, a significant interaction exists for officer race and his conduct record; a Black officer with a history of commendations was viewed more favorably and a White officer with a history of misconduct was viewed less favorably. Overall, this study highlights the implications of diversifying police departments for public attitudes about police use of force.

Keywords

race policing use of force policy

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