Self-Defined "Desert" and Citizens' Assessment of the Police

PROBLEMThe relationships between the police and citizens, particularly blacks or other minorities, have received much attention in the last two decades from politicians, community activists, and social scientists.In the United States, police treatment of blacks was claimed to trigger or to be the main reason behind past racial riots in Los Angeles, Detroit and New York, and recently in Miami.Police-community relationship continues to be an issue of concern to minorities in general, and to blacks in particular. 1 Social science researchers have investigated various aspects of police-community relationship, particularly minorities' feelings toward or assessment of the police, and minorities' experiences with the police.This study attempts to provide further insight into the link between experience with, and assessment of, the police.It also suggests a framework that may illuminate findings of disparity between actual experiences with and evaluation of law enforcement agencies.II.