Victimization, contact with police, and neighborhood conditions: reconsidering African American and Hispanic attitudes toward the police

Abstract

Citizen attitudes toward the police are integral in the assessment of policing. Past research concludes that race was an important predictor of satisfaction with the police. This study sought to advance prior research by including victimization experience, experience with police, perceived neighborhood conditions, and city characteristics as control variables. The results revealed that race was related to satisfaction, both African American and Hispanic respondents reported less satisfaction with the police. The impact of race was minimal, when compared to perception of quality of life, which was the most important predictor of satisfaction with the police.