Kids’ perceptions of police fall as they age – for Black children the decline starts earlier and is constant
The deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and most recently Dijon Kizzee at the hands of officers come in an age when overpolicing and underserving minority communities has, as some experts believe, resulted in a “legitimacy crisis” in American policing.
The reality is that these events are also impacting children. Youth today are growing up in what has been described as an “era of mistrust” of police.
Across racial and ethnic groups, youths’ perceptions of police have dropped in recent years to a decades-long low. Yet, the amount of the decline differs across demographic groups. In fact, Black youth report the most dramatic declines, and the gap between their perceptions and white youths’ perceptions has been increasing.
As scholars of policing and the criminal justice system, we stud...