1. RESEARCH PREVIEW Stakeholder Perceptions of Law Enforcement in Washington State
NOVEMBER 13, 2018

2. Introduction
GreatWork Communication partnered with WSU’s DGSS to examine perceptions of law enforcement in Washington State
Used mixed method approach: Literature review, interviews and surveys
Procedural justice (whether citizens view process and encounters as fair)
Biggest predictor: personal or vicarious contact with police
Performance-based (perceptions of effectiveness)
Fear of crime, past victimization, level of crime impact perceptions
629 respondents/ % people of color/33.2 % years

3. Most respondents have confidence in law enforcement

4. Most respondents are satisfied with local law enforcement

5. Procedural Justice (perceptions of fairness)
Overall, respondents rate their local police highly in perceptions of fairness and their personal contacts.
Three areas where less than a majority agree or strongly agree:
Local police provide opportunities for unfair decisions to be corrected (38.13%)
Local police make decisions based on facts, rather than their own personal opinions (47.29%)
Local police are honest and trustworthy (48.68%)
Rules and procedures fair to everyone
Opportunities for unfair decisions to be corrected
Decisions based on facts, not personal opinions
Likely to treat you with respect
Clearly explain actions for people they deal with
In general, treat all citizens equally
Honest and trustworthy
Care about people in my community
STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEITHER DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

6. Performance-based explanations
Do a good job maintaining order.
Do a good job preventing crime.
Do a good job interacting with victims of crime.
Where I live, police do a good job responding to problems that really concern people.
STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEITHER DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

7. Most respondents get news from Websites and Apps
Specific incidents
No difference in Race/Ethnicity and how often respondents hear or read about incidents of police misconduct, negative encounters between police and people of color, positive encounters between police and U.S. residents, or fatal encounters with police.
Differences based on party and ideology. Conservatives and Republicans hear about negative aspects more often and positive encounters less often than other groups.
Misconduct exaggerated by news media
Differences based on party identification and political ideology

8. Media
No potential differences in most used sources based on race/ethnicity
Potential differences in frequency
People of color get news from social media more frequently
Hispanics get news from Facebook more frequently
High percentage of Black/African Americans get news from Twitter most days or everyday
In response to the statement that Incidents of police misconduct are exaggerated by news media, responses were nearly evenly split between strongly agree/agree (39.03%) and disagree/strongly disagree (35.27%).

9. Incidents of police misconduct are exaggerated by news media

10. Comparing factors MEDIA: OTHER FACTORS:
At present, media use does not explain differences in confidence or satisfaction
While certain groups reported using some types of media more frequently, this did not seem to impact ratings of confidence and satisfaction
This is a divergent finding from other studies, but may reflect similar media use among this population
OTHER FACTORS:
Age, ideology and party also linked to confidence and satisfaction with services

11. Legislative perspective
CURRENT PERCEPTIONS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
DIFFERENCES AMONG GROUPS
GENERALLY POSITIVE, MOSTLY TRUSTED
AGENCIES VIEWED DIFFERENTLY
ICE (-)
Local (+/-)
State Patrol (+)
Younger (-) vs Older (+)
Rural (+) vs Urban (-)
Minority Groups (-)
Seattle (-)
Majority feel that perceptions of law enforcement are generally good.
Overwhelming agreement on perception differences based on region, and race.
The majority of respondents think that news/social media has affected perceptions.
Vocal activists

12. Legislative perspective
Echo chambers (+/-)
More used than other media
Nuanced, personal stories
Amplifies negative stories
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTIONS
Older audiences
Trust/lack of trust
Sensationalism
Balanced
Encounters with police (-/+)
Vocal activists (-/+)
How mistakes are handled (-/+)
Police conduct
OTHER FACTORS
TRADITIONAL MEDIA
SOCIAL MEDIA

13. Legislator perspective
POLICE COMMUNICATION & SUGGESTED ACTIONS
SUGGESTED ACTIONS
It has improved a lot
Doing a good job
The role of leadership
POLICE
COMMUNICATION
Transparency
Have positive interactions with young people
Training: mental health, public relations
Increase face-to-face interactions
Community Policing
Body cameras
Generate more positive messages/stories /news/etc.

14. Our early conclusions
Surveys and interviews confirm perceptions of law enforcement are largely positive
Differences between groups (age, race/ethnicity, region) are identified in both interview and survey responses
Participants emphasized the role of media and social media in perceptions, but in the surveys media sources did not impact ratings of confidence and satisfaction with services.
This may be due to similar sources used across campuses which may not reflect media use of general U.S. public.
No difference among specific media or frequency in hearing about negative encounters, including fatal encounters with police. Social media users reported hearing about these incidents at similar levels to traditional media users.
Interview participants suggested community policing, face to face interactions, and positive encounters with young people for improving perceptions. This is supported by the survey and current research that suggests personal contact has the largest influence on perceptions of police.
Limitations:
Low response rates for surveys, must be interpreted with caution
People of color represented 30% of sample, but fewer African American and Native American respondents (preventing significance testing)
Survey collection is ongoing due to unforeseen issues that reduced response rates

15. Stayed Tuned for Final Report
Due Jan 2019