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UMass study finds less civic engagement after police killings

Police vehicles in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Northampton Police Department
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Police vehicles in Northampton, Massachusetts.

UMass Amherst researchers have found that people exposed to police killings are less likely to reach out to local government for help with even basic services.

The researchers used real data from the city of Los Angeles as well as survey results about people’s attitudes.

To some degree, the results are not surprising, said UMass public policy professor Kelsey Shoub, who co-authored the study.

Shoub said she expected to find that, following a police killing, many community members feel distant from local government and "less than" in the government’s eyes.

And in fact, the study found that community members were less likely to call about problems like potholes or graffiti in the aftermath of such events.

But she said it’s important to understand the broader implications.

“Governments may think that different arms of itself are going to be viewed distinctly by the public. So like a local city council may believe that it's going to be viewed completely separately from its local police department," Shoub said. "That's not necessarily true. Rather, what one does is going to affect the other."

Instead of operating within their own silos, Shoub recommends that different government departments communicate and collaborate better and understand that police behavior affects overall trust in government.

"This points to a more holistic approach to policing and community relations and essentially local governance, rather than saying 'this is your domain and you go do whatever you want in this area.'"

She added that community members may not only withdraw from civic life after police killings but also after other forms of police misconduct. She said that includes "what the community views as negative police contact between them and the police department for a long time, which has led them to not want to interact with the police department and in turn not want to interact with local government."

Karen Brown is a radio and print journalist who focuses on health care, mental health, children’s issues, and other topics about the human condition. She has been a full-time radio reporter for NEPM since 1998.
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