Police-Community Relations

Cuny Baruch College, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project will examine the public's view of police abuse and just punishment in the context of the range of settings that typify complex day-to-day encounters between officers and citizens. Two goals describe this research: (1) to establish empirically the dimensions that define police abuse of authority and, following this, just punishment for abusive behavior in the eyes of the public; and (2) to explain under which circumstances structural (i.e., social status), experiential (i.e., prior experience with the police and the criminal justice system), or attitudinal (i.e., socio-political values) factors contribute to an understanding of citizens' judgments of police abuse and just punishment. These topics will be examined with data obtained from a telephone survey undertaken with a random sample of 1100 respondents in the City of New York. The sampling frame is designed to insure statistically reliable comparisons across ethnic groups in the City, including whites, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. Also, by using vignettes, the survey instrument will explain empirically whether and to what extent respondents share a common, normative understanding of the boundaries, the seriousness and the thresholds of police abuse and, following this, just punishment. Building on studies of the public's perception of police practices as well as studies of policing, this study of the normative structure of police abuse and just punishment will make a significant contribution to an understanding of the legitimacy of the police in the eyes of the public.