Urban-Rural Differences in Perceptions of Policing: Preliminary Evidence from the 2016 Missouri Crime and Victimization Survey

• In Event: Context and Public Perceptions of Police

Abstract

Extant work finds important differences in perceptions of police and policing across race, gender, age, socioeconomic status and neighborhood context. Less work has focused on urban-rural differences and how individual and neighborhood characteristics matter differently across these spaces. This research uses preliminary data from the 2016 Missouri Crime and Victimization Survey to examine the nuanced ways that residents’ perceptions of police and policing vary across and within urban and rural context. Broader implications of perceptions of policing as they relate to 1) law enforcement recruitment and training and 2) the use of victim services will be discussed.

Authors

• Eileen Avery, University of Missouri

• Joan Hermsen, University of Missouri

• Katelynn Towne-Arnold, University of Missouri

• Matt Knudtson, University of Missouri

• Mark Ritchey, Missouri State Highway Patrol