The Perception of the Public : White Versus Black Police Officers

Abstract

The author writes, “A lot of people say that white cops are racist and this is why their children are being killed by people that are supposed to protect them. I hear this a lot in Chicago, the city that I come from. By contrast, I never heard this about black cops. People's anger and frustration was mostly directed towards white cops.” For this reason, she decided to do research to examine the question: how do people perceive black versus white cops in and around Chicago? The author surveyed 85 people from different racial groups, categorized as black, white, and 'other.' Respondents answered 34 questions. The questions were based around six different sections: demographics, physical interactions with Black or White cops, perceptions of White or Black cops, Racial profiling, Dangers of being a Police officer, and General opinions about Police Officers. When analyzing the data, she used the chi-square text to determine which demographics was statistically significant to each question. Analysis of the survey data showed that age of the respondent was statistically significant most frequently in explaining the differences in responses to the survey questions.