African Americans Weigh In on Solutions to Police Brutality

July 1, 2015

Written by Serie McDougal

What are some of the different ways that Black people think about solutions to police brutality? Over the last two months, Afrometrics surveyed African Americans online to determine how they envisioned solutions to the critical problem of police violence against Black communities. Several suggested responses to police brutality were gathered from policy think tanks and community organizations and placed into a questionnaire (Solutions to Police Violence Questionnaire). The questionnaire was distributed online through social-media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) and was completed by 78 African Americans. A Factor Analysis was conducted to determine what combination of variables accounted for the majority of the variance in people’s ideas about solutions to police use of excessive force. Factor Analysis is a statistical method used to discover simple patterns within the larger pattern of relationships among a given set of variables. A principal components factor analysis (used to bring out strong patterns in a dataset) was conducted on the items in the Solutions to Police Violence Questionnaire (SPVQ). The analysis produced 6 factors with eigenvalues over 1 (See Figure 1). Only the items with factor loading (that is, how much a factor explains a variable) over .3 were retained for interpretation. After the factor analysis was conducted, we analyzed the relationship between participants’ endorsement of different means of addressing police brutality based on sex, level of education, and whether or not they had experienced police brutality.

Summary of Results

Most participants endorsed internal institutional control of police conduct, which includes tighter monitoring, restricting police conduct, and implementing more harsh penalization of misconduct. Most participants also endorsed mental health screening of police, which refers to tighter checks on the mental health of police officers as well as more mental health counseling for police officers. Most participants also recommended changing the culture of policing which refers to more diversity training, sensitivity training, and enhancement of police\community relations. Most participants also endorsed direct action, which includes political education of citizens about police abuses, their rights, and non-violent political protests. Lastly, the majority of participants endorsed watchful distrust\ patrolling which refers to the idea that police should be closely monitored by community groups and\or armed community groups and that the current structure of law enforcement should be disbanded.

A small minority of the participants endorsed aggressive retaliation as a response to police brutality by attacking police officers, destroying property and electronically attacking law enforcement. In addition to the closed-ended items, participants also had an option of writing in suggested solutions to police brutality, those suggestions included:

·       Restructuring police forces from the ground up
·       More harsh penalties for those who use excessive force (incarceration and firing)
·       Job creation and Black economic cooperation
·       The creation of more youth programs
· Mandatory, periodic psychological evaluations of officers
·       Community policing, and
·       Armed self\community defense

Figure 1

·       Age was related to endorsement of greater Mental Health Screening (screening offers for mental health issues and providing officers more mental health counseling) as a response to police brutality) such that as age increased participants’ endorsement of Mental Health Screening increased.    Older African Americans endorsed this response more than younger African Americans.

·       Age was related to endorsement of Aggressive Retaliation (armed attacks of police, electronic attacks on police, and destruction of property) as a response to police brutality. As participants’ age increased, there was a decrease in their endorsement of Aggressive Retaliation; however, the younger they were, the greater their endorsement of Aggressive Retaliation.

·       Those who had actually experienced police brutality endorsed Watchful Distrust of Law Enforcement (community monitoring of police and distrust of police) significantly more than those who had never actually experienced police brutality.

Factor Analysis: How the SPVQ was Made

The 6 factors identified account for 67.062% of the total variance in people’s ideas about police violence. Factor one accounted for the most variance (31.664%) and is made up of the following SPVQ items:

·        Providing police greater racial sensitivity training.
·        Hiring more diverse police forces
·        Doing more research on the problem to better understand it.
·        Creating more opportunities for police to socialize with community members.
·        Providing police greater training on how to deescalate hostile situations
·        Requiring police to receive more cultural sensitivity training.

This particular factor appears to measure solutions oriented toward changing the Culture of Policing.   This dimension includes ideas that promote diversity, sensitivity training, and improving relationships between law enforcement and communities.

Factor two accounted for 14.551% of the variance. This factor was made up of SPVQ items:

·        Disbanding law enforcement as we know it and starting from scratch.
·        Community patrols to monitor police activity.
·        Armed community patrols to police the police.
· Have you ever experienced police brutality?

This factor appears to measure a general Watchful Distrust of Law Enforcement. This section includes items that reflect a general distrust in law enforcement and the need to routinely keep a watchful eye on police behavior as a means of controlling such behavior. It is important to note that this item is closely related to the experience of police brutality.

Factor three accounts for 6.981% of the variance. This factor was made up of SPVQ items:

·        Staging public protest.
·        When I find out that another Black person has experienced police use of excessive force, I feel personally affected by it.
·        Creating a hotline to provide legal advice to individuals who have experienced police abuse.
·        Community organizations providing people with more public education about the history of police use of excessive force.
·        Greater use of video recording to monitor police behavior.
·        Presenting people with data about the incidents of police use of excessive force in their communities.
·        Educating people about their rights when interacting with police.

This factor appears to measure Direct Action. This section includes items that reflect an endorsement of civil rights style direct action in the form of public demonstrations and political community education about police abuse and solutions.

Factor four accounts for 5.066% of the variance. This consists of SPVQ items:

·        Making more use of police psychological evaluating to identify violence prone police officers.
·        More strict screening of officers to ensure that they have the correct qualifications.
·        Providing police with greater training in non-lethal techniques.
·        Requiring more counseling services for police officers.

This factor primarily measures Mental Health and Screening. This section includes items that reflect an endorsement of increased screening and on-going mental health evaluation of and services for police officers.

Factor five accounts for 4.543% of the variance. Factor four consists of SPVQ items:

·        The destruction of property as a form of protest.
·        Retaliating with community violence against police.

Factor five primarily measures Aggressive Retaliation. This section includes items that reflect an endorsement of aggressive retaliation in response to police injustice.

Factor six accounts for 4.256% of the variance. Factor six consists of SPVQ items:

·        Decreasing or minimizing the circumstances under which officers are allowed to use force.
·        Making tighter restrictions on when and under what circumstances lethal weapons can be used.
·        Greater legal consequences for officers who engage in excessive force.
·        Doing a better job of keeping track of police use of excessive force

Factor six primarily measures Internal Institutional Control of Police Conduct. This section includes items that reflect an endorsement of the adoption of institutional policies that will monitor, restrict, and penalize excessive police conduct.

Inferential Analysis

Based on the results of this factor analysis the items in the SPVQ where grouped together based on the aforementioned factors or dimensions. A Pearson correlation (which measures how well the variables are related) was conducted to determine the relationship between African American participants’ age, levels of education and the SPVQ dimensions: Change the Culture of Policing, Watchful Distrust of Law Enforcement, Direct Action, Mental Health Screening, Aggressive Retaliation, and Internal Institutional Control of Police Conduct. There was a significant (p<.05) positive correlation between participants’ age and their endorsement of Mental Health Screening (.272) as a solution to police brutality, such that as participants’ ages increased, so did their level of support for greater Mental Health Screening. The older participants were the more likely they were to identify Mental Health Screening as a solution. There was a significant (p<.05) inverse correlation (-.267) between participants’ age and their levels of endorsement of Aggressive Retaliation as a response to police brutality. The older participants were the less likely they were to endorse Aggressive Retaliation and the younger they were the more likely they were to endorse Aggressive Retaliation. No other significant relationships were identified for Age and no significant relationships were identified for Level of Education.

A T-test (assesses whether the means of two groups are statistically different from one another) was conducted to calculate the difference between participants’ levels of preference for the SPVQ dimensions, based on whether or not they had experienced police brutality. The T-test indicated a significant difference between participants’ levels of endorsement for Watchful Distrust of law enforcement (t(78) = 3.326, p<.05) based on their experience with police brutality. The level of endorsement of Watchful Distrust for law enforcement for those who had themselves experienced police brutality (m=3.98) was significantly higher than the mean Watchful Distrust score of those who had never experienced police brutality (m=3.1). Those who have actually experienced police brutality endorse community monitoring of police and distrust of police significantly more than those who have never actually experienced police brutality. No significant differences were found based on sex either.

Ferguson, 2015

Birmingham, 1963