Evaluations of police performance in an African American sample

Research has indicated that minority group members generally hold less posi tive attitudes toward police than do Whites. This study, examined evaluatio ns of police performance among a sample of African Americans. Regression an alysis indicated that age, education, victimization, respondents' evaluatio ns of the safety of their neighbor-hoods their evaluations of their neighbo r-hoods, and their evaluations of police response time getting to their nei ghborhoods ail had significant effects upon evaluations of local police per formance. These results are consistent with studies that emphasized the nei ghbor-hood context of evaluations of local police performance. They also in dicate that el evaluations of police response time are a significant factor in evaluations of police performance among African Americans. (C) 1999 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.