Public opinion

Harm

Deadly force

Race (biology)

Racism

Racial profiling

Gender studies

Officer

Legitimacy

Criminal justice

Vetting

Community policing

Police science

Political science

Criminology

Sociology

Police brutality

Outrage

Politics

The Journal of Pan-African Studies

Introduction In recent years, the political climate and media coverage regarding the link between race and use of police force have brought forth a plethora of inquiries into public attitudes toward the police. Altercations between minority communities and police officers command visiting these events to examine their effect on the public's attitudes toward police and police legitimacy. Hinds (2009) found that hearing about a negative police encounter could have a significant impact on the public's attitudes toward the police. Public opinions of police legitimacy can have a direct effect on the officers' ability to successfully perform their duties (U.S. Department of Justice [DOJ], 2014a). In 2014, Ferguson, Missouri, was thrust into the national spotlight when an 18-year-old African American male named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a White police officer, Darren Wilson, (Healy, 2014). The shooting of Brown and the failure to indict Wilson sparked outrage and protest in Ferguson and surrounding commun...

A Racial Divide: College Student Attitudes concerning Police in South Louisiana