Community Satisfaction and Police Officer Understanding of Community Expectations: A Quantitative and Observational Analysis

Abstract

Identifying the perceptions of community members, and officers’ understanding of those perceptions, is key for facilitating positive community-police interactions, especially among community members of color. During ride-alongs with police, we examined (1) community members’ perceptions of, and satisfaction with, officers’ actions, language, and demeanors and (2) officers’ perceptions of community member’s satisfaction based on the officers’ actions, language, and demeanors. Our study examined the perceptions of a racially diverse set of community members with the majority being people of color. We triangulated these quantitative findings with our observations of community-officer interactions. Findings reveal important similarities and differences between community members and officers. Given the media attention surrounding the killings of community members, and the resulting Black Lives Matter movement, our findings have important implications for improving these interactions.