Race and Fear of Police Brutality: The Hidden Injuries of Minority Status in America

Presentation given at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology.

Given the widely publicized deaths of unarmed Black men at the hands of police, increased concern has emerged regarding the use of officer violence toward minorities. Although studies of police use of force—including lethal force—have been undertaken (e.g., Zimring, 2017), research on fear of police violence remains limited. To fill this void in the literature, the current project reports the results of a 2018 national poll (n = 1,000) on the extent to which Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks are “worried” about experiencing “police brutality.” This experience is compared to the fear of being victimized by a violent crime, hate crime, robbery, mass shooting, or terrorist attack. Sources of these worries are examined. The study’s key finding is that Blacks and Hispanics experience far great fear of police brutality than do Whites. The theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.