Americans' Views on Crime and Law Enforcement: A Look at Recent Survey Findings (From Measuring What Matters: Proceedings From the Policing Research Institute Meetings, P 133-140, 1999, Robert H. Langworthy, ed. -- See NCJ-170610)

• NCJ Number: 179861
• Author(s): Jean Johnson; Steve Farkas; Ali Bers; Christin Connolly; Zarela Maldonado
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 8 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Department of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article summarizes key observations from surveys during the past 5 years of Americans' views on crime and law enforcement.

Abstract

The public's concerns about crime seem to be somewhat independent of the actual crime rate, a phenomenon that may discourage law enforcement professionals but underscores how frightening this issue is for most people. Much of recent opinion research on police bias and brutality has focused on the trial of four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of Rodney King and the role of retired Los Angeles detective Mark Fuhrman in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson. For many white Americans, these kinds of incidents were mainly viewed as regrettable exceptions to the rule. However, 53 percent of African-Americans thought that the racism and falsification of evidence described in the Fuhrman episode is common among the local police. There was substantial agreement among black and white Americans about what constitutes appropriate police behavior. However, while 76 percent of whites could "imagine" a situation in which they would approve of a policeman striking an adult male citizen, only 45 percent of blacks gave the police that kind of benefit of the doubt. Figures, notes