Public Perceptions of Police Among Street-Identified Black-Americans: The Impacts of Neighborhood Factors

• In Event: Enhancing Police Legitimacy and Procedural Justice in Black-American Communities

Abstract

The growing negative assessment of the police in Black-American communities has reinforced the need to investigate the predictors of public perception of police. This street participatory action research (Street PAR) project examined the impact of neighborhood factors on perceptions of police among street-identified Black men and women from the Northside and Westside sections of Wilmington, Delaware. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted on data from the Wilmington Street PAR Health Project to investigate the impact of physical disorder and social cohesion on public perceptions of police in a large community sample of street-identified Black boys/men and girls/women (ages 16-54). Findings indicate that physical disorder and social cohesion significantly influence the public perceptions of the police. In addition to improved housing and environmental management programs, this study suggests strengthening social ties, group-level interventions, and enacting resident-driven community policing programs to improve perceptions of police and better policing in marginalized urban Black communities.

Authors

• Abass Muhammed, University of Delaware

• Yasser Arafat Payne, University of Delaware

• Ivan Sun, University of Delaware