Do White and Black People Truly View the Police Differently? Findings from a Study of Crime Hot Spots in Baltimore, Maryland

While numerous studies demonstrate that Black individuals have more negative perceptions of the police than their White counterparts, few have simultaneously examined racial differences in perceptions of procedural justice, police effectiveness, and legitimacy. Additionally, limited research has rigorously examined the relationship between race and perceptions of the police while carefully accounting for potentially relevant factors that could influence this relationship. Using unique survey data largely drawn from crime hot spots in Baltimore, Maryland, we examined the differences between White (n = 500) and Black (n = 2,452) individuals’ perceptions of procedural justice, police effectiveness, and police legitimacy. Furthermore, by conducting propensity-score matching on White and Black residents in our data, we compared perceptions of the police between 394 pairs of similarly situated Black and White residents who were matched based on demographics, victimization, offending, self-control, recent experiences with the police, perceived police presence, and street environments. Results indicated that while Black people have more negative perceptions of procedural justice than White people, they do not hold different perceptions regarding police effectiveness and obligation to obey. These findings hold even when comparing the matched White and Black people. Our findings suggest a nuanced relationship between race and perceptions of the police.