Background - By some measures, public confidence levels in the police have reached a new low, with particularly pronounced declines among Black and Hispanic communities.

(2022) Additionally, this impact was slightly stronger among Black respondents (increased the likelihood of viewing the police as trustworthy and accountable by 3.8% and 4.3%, respectively) as compared to changes among White respondents (increases of 2% and 2.6%, respectively). [...] Across all respondents, lower levels of use of force and citizen complaints, and higher levels of felony solve rates raised confidence and accountability perceptions, with the effect sizes generally larger than those witnessed for changes in diversity levels. [...] The level of community police resources, police budget, and the type of population served had no impact on people’s views of the police. [...] Implications These findings suggest that increasing “These findings indicate that the gender and racial diversity of law increased diversity can influence enforcement does have some ability to perceptions of the police among improve perceptions of the police, but women and Black Americans – but this impact is generally small and only in the most extreme scenarios limited to communities that are se. [...] In contrast to the weaker influence from diversity, the findings indicate that solving serious crimes while limiting civilian complaints and use of force can more consistently and effectively build perceptions of confidence and accountability, underscoring the value of investing in police training that builds capacity in these areas.