1 Panel 2, Position 4 Jack D. Ripper

2 Article: “Accounting for Variation in Distrust of Local Police” Dependent variable: Distrust in police This study used logistic regression, which requires a dichotomous (0/1) dependent variable. Original variable from data source (SCBS) was categorical/ordinal with four levels: “No (trust) at all,” “A little,” “Some” and “A lot.” Recoded to 0 for “Not at all” and 1 for any of the others

3 Main independent variables Logistic regression requires continuous or dichotomous (0/1) independent variable Individual-level Demographic (gender, race, etc.) Each coded 0/1 (e.g., 0=Male, 1=male) Member ethnic/civil rights org? (0=no, 1=yes) Attitude (originally categorical/ordinal - none/a little/some/a lot) “Trust in neighbors” and “Trust in others of own race” (converted to 0-3 scale) Political efficacy/interest (none=0; other=1) Quality of life (converted to 1-4 scale)

4 Policing-level Black police chief (0=no, 1=yes) Black representation on police dept. (% Black officers minus city’s % Black population) Size of police dept. (no. of officers/pop.) Police policy “responsiveness” scale (composite measure - see next slide) Number of Blacks killed by police divided by city’s homicide totals, 1994-2000 Crime measures (crime index <7820=0, higher=1; viol. crime index <587=0, higher=1) City-level Black majority in city (0=no, 1=yes)

5 Validity and reliability concerns Validity: Police policy “responsiveness” scale is a composite of three yes/no variables: Formal outreach to tenant associations; community policing; civilian review board But actual street-level performance is left out. Reliability: Collapsing response categories (for example, “none”=0 and “a little,” some” and “a lot”=1) could exaggerate actual differences of opinion “Trust” and “Quality of Life” scales are inherently subjective, so responses may differ for no good reason, creating error