The relationship between the police and African Americans has been beset by a lack of trust for decades. Improving this relationship is important to scholars, practitioners, and citizens; as a result, we examine in this study African Americans’ trust and confidence in the police. Using trust questions found in the literature, we interviewed 77 African Americans in Durham, NC, to assess their views about the police. We found that for the police to earn the trust of African Americans, the police should treat African Americans equitably, invest in community policing, and respect African Americans. Although some respondents do not believe that their relationship with the police could be repaired, this is a small percentage of respondents, less than 5%.

几十年来，人们一直缺乏信任，困扰着警察与非洲裔美国人之间的关系。改善这种关系对学者，从业者和公民都是重要的。结果，我们在本研究中考察了非洲裔美国人对警察的信任和信心。利用文献中的信任问题，我们采访了北卡罗来纳州达勒姆市的77名非洲裔美国人，以评估他们对警察的看法。我们发现，为了使警察赢得非裔美国人的信任，警察应公平对待非裔美国人，投资于社区警务，并尊重非裔美国人。尽管一些受访者不相信自己与警察的关系可以得到恢复，但这只是一小部分受访者，不到5％。