Study Shows Black Men More Positive About Local Policing Than Black Women
A recent study found a disparity between Black women and Black men regarding their perceptions of local policing, The Hill reports.
The Gallup survey revealed that 52 percent of Black women have confidence in their local police compared to 60 percent of Black men. Additionally, 68 percent of Black women feel police “would treat them with courtesy and respect in an interaction” compared to 74 percent of Black men. According to the report, 67 percent of Black men feel treated fairly by the police compared to 57 percent of Black women.
Researchers point to a possible explanation for the gender gap. The survey reports that police are disproportionately more likely to kill Black women than women of other races and ethnicities, yet media outlets give those cases less coverage than other deaths.
The gender chasm between Black men and Black women makes them the most unique demographic in the study.
White and Hispanic men and women align closer in their views of community policing, according to the survey. The perception of fair treatment differed by just 1 percent between white men and women and only 3 points for Latino men and women.
Despite attempts to improve relationships between law enforcement and African American communities, regardless of gender or age, Black Americans still have more negative perceptions of policing than their white counterparts due to factors such as police brutality and racial profiling.
For example, Black teenagers in California were targeted by law enforcement at nearly six times the rate of white teens during vehicle and pedestrian stops in 2021, according to a 2023 government report by the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board.
The study also showed that officers searched Black adolescents between ages 15 and 17 at a rate higher than any other race or ethnic group.
“The data show that racial and identity disparities persist year after year,” the report read. “The Board remains committed to analyzing and highlighting these disparities to compel evidence-driven strategies for reforming policing and eliminating racial and identity profiling in California.”
