An investigation of racial biases among rural police officers

The current study examined racial biases in rural police systems. Fifty police officers took part in the study. A likert-type scale was used to measure different aspects of racial bias, and a questionnaire with crime descriptions was used. Each police system received either a Caucasian suspect questionnaire or an African American suspect questionnaire. Results indicated that the rural police officers in this study did not exhibit racial biases. There were additional analyses done which showed that female officers are slightly harsher in their treatment of African American suspects compared to male officers. The findings of the current study are similar to findings of studies done in the past