Police-citizen contact and police performance attitudinal differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanics

This study examined the impact of police contacts (i.e., nature of police contact and type of police experience) and language spoken (English versus Spanish) on citizens' attitudes toward police performance. Data analysis was based on a telephone survey of 251 residents in Odessa and Midland, Texas, who had had contact with the police. Among the significant findings were: (1) citizens who initiated police contact viewed police performance more favorably than those whose contacts were initiated by the police; (2) police contact was likely to result from a service aspect of policing more than a crime-fighting function, and positive police experience not only yielded positive attitudes toward the police, but also neutralized or ameliorated the negative attitudes of citizens; (3) although not significantly so, Spanish-speaking Hispanics felt more satisfied with police performance than Whites and English-speaking Hispanics; and (4) Blacks had less favorable attitudes toward the police than either Whites or the two Hispanic groups. The study concluded that appropriate police policies must be implemented to create positive police-citizen contacts and to enhance police-minority relationships.