Was it Legitimate? Rurality and Indigenous Perceptions of Police Stops

• In Event: Advances in Rural Criminology: Policing in Rural Communities

Abstract

While extant research continues to reflect disproportionate representation of Indigenous peoples in the criminal legal system, less is known about the nature of police contacts and Indigenous Americans’ assessments of legitimacy. Situated in colonial theory, the current study uses data from the Police Public Contact Survey (PPCS) to examine the frequency of Indigenous Americans' experiences with traffic stops and perceptions of these stops legitimate across rural and non-rural contexts. While data indicated that the odds of Indigenous Americans experiencing traffic stops were greater than all other racial groups regardless of location, Indigenous Americans were more likely to interpret traffic stops as illegitimate in rural areas, controlling for traffics stop outcomes such as whether or not they were searched, arrested, or received a ticket. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Authors

• Heather Zaykowski, University of Massachusetts Boston

• Lena Campagna, Caldwell University