Police Contacts and Attitudes toward Police: A Study of Race and Policing

Author Information

Gary Portway

Abstract/Description

In the past couple of years, different police departments in the United States have ignited intense criticism for allegedly operating in unethical and unconstitutional ways, namely facilitating the law under racist principles. Since the structure of policing often shifts based on changes within general society, it has become a common standard that policing must match the highest degree of ethics adopted by citizens of the United States. There is a compelling need for more research to be done on the police-citizen relationship. This research studies whether there is disproportionality, with a specific focus on race and ethnicity, in some of the police contacts that Bridgewater State University students (selected via random sample) have had—a goal that helps illustrate whether unethical policing is systematic in our society.

Note on the Author

Gary Portway graduated summa cum laude from Bridgewater State University in December 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. His research project, conducted as his honors thesis, was completed in the Fall 2015 semester under the mentorship of Dr. Jennifer Hartsfield (Criminal Justice). This project was made possible with a semester grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research. Gary presented this research at the 2015 American Society of Criminology conference in Washington, D.C. He plans to continue his education by pursuing a master’s degree in the fall of 2016.

Recommended Citation

Portway, Gary (2016). Police Contacts and Attitudes toward Police: A Study of Race and Policing. Undergraduate Review, 12, 116-125.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol12/iss1/19

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Articles published in The Undergraduate Review are the property of the individual contributors and may not be reprinted, reformatted, repurposed or duplicated, without the contributor’s consent.