Officer Race Versus Macro-Level Context: A Test of Competing Hypotheses About Black Citizens’ Experiences With and Perceptions of Black Police Officers

It has been proposed that hiring more Black police officers is an effective way to alleviate long-standing tensions between police and African Americans because Black officers will connect with Black citizens and treat them well. This hypothesis, however, fails to account for the macro-level context...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Crime and delinquency 2015-03, Vol.61 (2), p.213-242
Main Authors: Brunson, Rod K., Gau, Jacinta M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
Blacks
Citizens
Crime
Ecology
Ethnicity
Perceptions
Police
Police officers
Policing
Social perception
U.S.A
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Summary:It has been proposed that hiring more Black police officers is an effective way to alleviate long-standing tensions between police and African Americans because Black officers will connect with Black citizens and treat them well. This hypothesis, however, fails to account for the macro-level context of the troubled locations in which African Americans disproportionately reside and wherein police–minority citizen problems are deep seated. The present study examines two competing hypotheses concerning the influence ofofficer race relative to that of ecological context in shaping African Americans’ experiences with and perceptions of local police. These hypotheses are testedusing in-depth interview data with Black residents of a majority-Black, high-crime, economically troubled city. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.
ISSN:0011-1287
1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/0011128711398027