How are perceptions of the danger posed by crime colored by race? This work draws on the contact hypothesis to explore the link between a neighborhood’s racial composition, interracial interactions, racial crime stereotypes, and perceptions of criminal danger. Using a recent survey of Seattle residents, I find that interracial interactions are associated with decreased crime stereotypes about racial and ethnic minorities—though not crime stereotypes about Whites. Moreover, crime stereotypes about racial and ethnic minorities are associated with reduced perceptions of neighborhood safety and increased anxieties about victimization, at least among White respondents and especially in neighborhoods with greater numbers of the targets of these stereotypes. I discuss interesting interracial differences in these processes as well as the complicated relationship between racial proximity, stereotypes, and perceptions of the danger posed by crime.
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