Police Contacts and Public Perception

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

Police contact with the public and how the general public view law enforcement officers are hot topics in the American media. Police interactions with members of the public are being increasingly recorded and scrutinized. Using the latest iteration of the Police-Public Contact Survey conducted in 2011(ICPSR 34276), this presentation will examine the public’s perception of law enforcement in light of interactions with law enforcement in both voluntary (police response to an emergency, filing an incident report with the police) and involuntary contacts (traffic stops, face to face stops). Perception of law enforcement is measured on the basis of whether the respondents reported the reasons for police contact were legitimate, whether they felt they were treated respectfully by the police, and whether they felt the police behaved properly during the interaction. Any racial/ethnic differences in the perceptions of law enforcement and the statistical significance of differences will also be addressed.

Author

• Richard Wylie Riner, University of Texas at Dallas