On 2 February 2017, French police officers brutally abused a young black man, leading to the first wave of 2017 French riots. The present study exploits the coincidence that the focal event occurred during the survey period of the European Social Survey (ESS) 2016 (11 November 2016 – 11 March 2017) in France, thus providing the basis for a natural experiment on the effect of media reporting on police misconduct on trust in the police. Data are analysed by means of a regression discontinuity design (RDD) as well as more conventional regression analyses with heteroscedasticity robust standard errors. In line with procedural justice theory as well as institutional theory, the present study finds support for the notion that this special case of police misconduct did decrease trust in the police. In addition, people reporting a migrant background showed even less trust in the police after the event. Frequency of different media consumption does not appear to explain the deterioration of trust in the police after the event. The results of this study increase the internal and external validity of the assumption that trust in the police can be explained not only by personal experiences but also by the perceived unfair treatment of others. Results are robust to various placebo tests. There is some evidence that the effect seems to be short-lived, although the data basis is limited in this regard. Several fruitful approaches for future studies are discussed.

2017年2月2日，法国警察残酷地虐待了一个年轻的黑人男子，导致2017年法国骚乱的第一波。本研究利用焦点事件发生在法国2016年欧洲社会调查（ESS）的调查期间（2016年11月11日至2017年3月11日）的巧合，从而为媒体报道效果的自然实验提供了基础关于警察对警察的信任的不当行为。通过回归不连续性设计（RDD）以及带有异方差稳健标准误差的更常规的回归分析来分析数据。与程序正义理论和制度理论相一致，本研究为这种特殊的警察不当行为确实降低了对警察的信任的观点提供了支持。此外，事件发生后，报告移民背景的人对警察的信任度甚至更低。事件发生后，不同媒体消费的频率似乎无法解释对警察信任度的下降。这项研究的结果提高了这种假设的内部和外部有效性，即对警察的信任不仅可以通过个人经历来解释，而且可以通过对他人的不公平对待来解释。结果对各种安慰剂测试均很可靠。有证据表明，这种影响似乎是短暂的，尽管在这方面的数据基础是有限的。讨论了一些未来研究的卓有成效的方法。这项研究的结果提高了这种假设的内部和外部有效性，即对警察的信任不仅可以通过个人经历来解释，而且可以通过对他人的不公平对待来解释。结果对各种安慰剂测试均很可靠。有证据表明，这种影响似乎是短暂的，尽管在这方面的数据基础是有限的。讨论了一些未来研究的卓有成效的方法。这项研究的结果提高了这种假设的内部和外部有效性，即对警察的信任不仅可以通过个人经历来解释，而且可以通过对他人的不公平对待来解释。结果对各种安慰剂测试均很可靠。有证据表明，这种影响似乎是短暂的，尽管在这方面的数据基础是有限的。讨论了一些未来研究的卓有成效的方法。