Perceptions of police legitimacy and willingness to report hate crime incidents by race/ethnicity

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Few studies have examined the influence of the importance of perceptions of police legitimacy in the decision to report hate crime incidents to the police. The current study aims to explore the respondents' perceptions of legitimacy, procedural justice, and association with the likelihood of reporting hate crime incidents to police regarding racial/ethnic groups (especially between the Asian population and other racial groups). This study used a sample of 723 college students and was conducted at a public university in northeast Arkansas. Findings show that hate crime incidents are less likely to be reported to the police when compared to non-hate crime incidents. In addition, those who have a high level of perceptions of police legitimacy reported more willingness to report hate crime incidents to the police. Lastly, Policy implications are addressed, as well as this study's limitations, along with directions for future research in this area.

Authors

• Selye Lee, Arkansas State University

• Songyon Shin, Southern Illinois University

• Chunghyeon Seo, University of Central Oklahoma

• Hyesun Choi, Arkansas State University