Repeated instances of police violence against unarmed civilians have drawn worldwide attention to the contemporary crisis of police legitimacy. Community-oriented policing (COP), which encourages positive, nonenforcement contact between police officers and the public, has been widely promoted as a policy intervention for building public trust and enhancing police legitimacy. To date, however, there is little evidence that COP actually leads to changes in attitudes toward the police. Researchers conducted a randomized trial with a large urban police department and found that positive contact with police—delivered via brief door-to-door nonenforcement community policing visits—substantially improved residents’ attitudes toward police, including legitimacy and willingness to cooperate. These effects remained large in a 21-day follow-up and were largest among nonwhite respondents.
In the aftermath of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders by the police, we know now it is not the...
An interactive map documenting efforts to build cop city training complexes around the US, including a spreadsheet with relevant information....
This edition updates those findings through the 2022-23 school year with analysis of 372 assaults and includes additional data points,...
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