Citizens’ Perceptions of Over- and Under-Policing: A Look at Race, Ethnicity, and Community Characteristics

Crime &Delinquency, Ahead of Print.
While there is substantial research on community-police relations, most studies examine the abstract outcome of “negative perceptions of police.” This study, however, examines over- and under-policing as two distinct, yet not mutually exclusive, constructs, suggesting that there is more to strained police-community relations than citizens perceiving the police “negatively.” Using the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods Community Survey, we assess the relationship between race and ethnicity and perceptions of over- and under-policing and explore how these associations are conditioned by neighborhood characteristics. Results reveal racialized perceptions of over- and underpolicing. Furthermore, while levels of both under- and over-policing vary across neighborhoods, the relationship between these outcomes and individual-level race/ethnicity was robust. Implications for policy and research are discussed.