Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Differences in Perceptions of the Police

• Published date: 01 May 2012
• Date: 01 May 2012
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1043986211425726
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

28(2) 206 –227

© 2012 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/1043986211425726

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425726CCJ28210.1177/1043986211425726Cochran

and WarrenJournal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

1Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Joshua C. Cochran, Florida State University, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 634 West Call

Street, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1127, USA

Email: jcochran@fsu.edu

Racial, Ethnic, and Gender

Differences in Perceptions

of the Police: The Salience

of Officer Race Within the

Context of Racial Profiling

Joshua C. Cochran1 and Patricia Y. Warren1

Abstract

Prior research has consistently demonstrated the salience of minority status in

understanding racial and ethnic differences in perceptions of the police. This research

has overwhelmingly shown that Blacks and Latinos hold lower levels of trust and

confidence in the police than do Whites and other racial minorities. The increased

skepticism of the police expressed by minority citizens is commonly associated with

racial profiling and documented racial disparities in police behavior. Although policing

research has empirically demonstrated the influence of race on perceptions of the

police, few studies have explored the relevance of officer race in shaping citizens’

evaluations of police encounters. Using data from the BJS Police–Public Contact

Survey, the purpose of this study is to examine whether racial variation in evaluations

of police behavior is moderated by the race of the officer. The results suggest that

officer race may be an important factor in shaping citizen perceptions of police stops,

particularly when it comes to Black citizens. This finding is important as it provides

some evidence that increasing the number of minority officers may be one viable

option for improving citizen–officer relations.

Keywords

race, policing, racial profiling, public opinion

Article

Cochran and Warren 207

Criminological research has long explored the salience of race and ethnicity in under-

standing citizens’ evaluations of the police (Black & Reiss, 1970; Brunson, 2007;

Hurst, Frank, & Browning, 2000; Weitzer & Tuch, 1999, 2006). This growing body of

research has demonstrated that Black and Hispanic citizens hold lower levels of trust

and confidence in the police than do Whites and other racial minorities. These perceptions

result in part from the disadvantages that racial and ethnic minorities experience across

the justice system, along with any gratuitous treatment that they may have experienced

during their encounters with police. In recent years, racial profiling has emerged as a

major factor shaping minority citizens’ evaluations of the police (Warren, Tomaskovic-Devey,

Zingraff, Smith, & Mason, 2006; Weitzer & Tuch, 2002). The term racial profiling

describes the practice of targeting or stopping an individual based primarily on race,

rather than on any individualized suspicion (Beckett, Nyrop, & Pfingst, 2006; Engel &

Johnson, 2006; Weitzer, 2000a). As a result of these experiences, Black and Hispanic

communities have raised questions about police legitimacy as well as the procedural

fairness of police organizations more generally (Engel, 2005; Smith & Holmes, 2003;

Tyler, 2001).

Although prior studies have demonstrated that racial minorities are more likely to

perceive police as racially biased and unfair, there continues to be ongoing questions

about the factors that underlie these perceptions. In particular, prior studies have over-

whelmingly highlighted the salience of direct and vicarious experiences (e.g.,

Rosenbaum, Schuck, Costello, Hawkins, & Ring, 2005; Weitzer & Tuch, 2006),

neighborhood context (e.g., Brunson, 2007; Brunson & Weitzer, 2009; Sampson &

Bartusch, 1998; Schuck, Rosenbaum, & Hawkins, 2008; Stewart, Baumer, Brunson,

& Simons, 2009), along with the outcome of the police encounter (e.g., Brown &

Frank, 2006; Johnson & Kuhns, 2009; Warren & Tomaskovic-Devey, 2009) when

evaluating racial/ethnic differences. However, to date, few studies have explored the

relevance of officer race (for exceptions, see Engel, 2005; Gilliard-Matthews,

Kowalski, & Lundman, 2008; Lersch & Mieczkowski, 2000). The lack of empirical

attention to officer race is anomalous given the push from both policy makers and

scholars to diversify U.S. police organizations in efforts to improve citizen–police

relations and to dispel notions of racial profiling.

The debate surrounding the relevance of officer race began in the late 70s and early

80s when many police departments adopted diversification strategies to foster trust

and improve police–minority community relations (Brown & Frank, 2006; Kuykendall

& Burns, 1980; Skolnick & Fyfe, 1993; Smith & Holmes, 2003; Weitzer, 2000b; Zhao,

Herbst, & Lovrich, 2001). Despite these efforts, there have been relatively few empiri-

cal studies to demonstrate that officer race significantly influences citizens’ evalua-

tions of them (see also Engel, 2005; Kaker, 2003). In fact, the National Research

Council (Skogan & Frydl, 2004) contends that there is little evidence to suggest that

minority officers behave differently than their White counterparts.

Against this backdrop, the purpose of the current study is multifaceted. First, we

explore the salience of officer race in understanding citizen perceptions of police

behavior. We do so by examining how the combined effects of race, ethnicity, and