ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN POLICE OFFICERS AND YOUTHS: THE SOCIAL COSTS OF DISRESPECT

ABSTRACT

The present study focused on firsthand and vicarious encounters between youths and police officers and the relationship between perceived police behaviors on youths’ attitudes toward the police and youths’ feelings of safety in their neighborhoods. Self-report surveys were administered to public high school students in a large urban area (Chicago). A total of 891 respondents completed the surveys and answered questions about their own encounters with the police and their observations of other youths’ encounters with the police. Students who claimed that officers had disrespected them or other youths were less likely to trust and respect the police or to think that officers are fair or care about the community, compared with students who claimed that officers had respected them or other youths.