only when probable cause exists. Police departments tend to respond in one of two ways. Either they deny that racial profiling is used, or they defend its use on the grounds that minorities are more likely to engage in criminal behavior (Foote, 1999).
As public perception is an important component in the controversy surrounding the behavior of police toward members of racial minority groups in relation to traffic stops, it is both important and necessary to assess the perceptions of the wider community with respect to the issue. If significant differences in such perceptions exist between different racial and ethic groups, there is, at the very least, a justification for further research that focuses on the reasons for such variations in perceptions. A finding that no significant differences exist among different racial and ethnic groups with respect to perceptions of police behavior toward members of racial minorities in traffic stop situations will indicate, however, that behavioral modifications on the part of police are necessary to correct public perceptions as a minimum.
One hypothesis will be tested in the proposed study. The null and alternative forms of the hypothesis are as follows:
H0: (Null form). There are no variations among different racial and ethnic population groups with respect to perceptions that police apply racial profiling in making traffic stop decisions.
H1: (Alternative Form). Higher proportions of members of racial minority groups perceive that police apply racial profiling in making traffic stop decisions than do members of other population groups.
The police and residents of the communities that they serve have not always been in adversarial relationships. The adversarial character of the relationship developed over time and for a number of reasons. One of the important reasons, however, likely is the trend toward the isolation of the police from the communities that they serve. The...