Attitudes Toward the Police

In the United States, there has been a recent backlash towards the police and law enforcement agencies as a response to perceived injustices. The purpose of this study is to identify measures of attitudes toward the police. Participants were recruited online and were asked to complete a survey containing previously existing measures regarding attitudes toward police and about their previous interactions with police. Results suggest that perceptions of the quality of contact with the police is more important than type of contact when examining positive and negative attitudes toward the police. Having positive interactions with the police is correlated with having more positive attitudes toward the police. With future study on the topic, these results could be used to positively impact police training and overall performance