Abstract
Objectives
To assess how media images of protests calling for police reform affect public support for police reform policies.
Methods
Participants were randomly assigned to view a picture of a protest, which depicted predominately White protesters or predominately Black protesters. Participants then indicated their support for eight police reform policies. As a follow-up to the primary analyses, we conducted regression analyses to determine how assumptions of protest demographics influence support for reform.
Results
Exposure to images highlighting the racial demographics of a protest does not affect support for reform. However, support for police reform is influenced by preexisting opinions about protests calling for police reform, including the perceived racial composition of a protest.
Conclusions
Although the public is generally supportive of police reforms, support can be affected by situational factors; beliefs about the race of who is attending protests inform support for police reform.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Notes
Campaign Zero also recommends an additional two reforms not included within this study: promoting diversity among law enforcement hiring so that departments better represent the communities they police and reducing the ability of police unions to shield their members from liability.
Scores of 5, 6, or 7 on a 7-point scale indicate “support”
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Dunbar, A., Hanink, P.A. Policing protests: an experimental evaluation of the impact of protester race on support for police reform. J Exp Criminol 19, 343–364 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-021-09499-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-021-09499-2