Anger About Police-Civilian Relations and Support for Policing Reforms

Objectives Police-related anger remains undertheorized and understudied, even as evidence accumulates that issue-specific anger drives public preferences in other policy domains. We address this void in the literature by distinguishing police-related anger that is generalized from that which is situational (a state emotion), and by distinguishing anger felt toward officers from anger felt toward civilians. We theorize that individuals’ racial backgrounds and cumulative personal and vicarious experiences with police mistreatment affect both types of generalized anger and, in turn, support for policing reforms. Methods Our study uses data from two national surveys conducted by YouGov (Survey 1: N = 1,150; Survey 2: N = 1,100), which measured both types of generalized police-related anger (toward officers vs. civilians) and support for policing reforms. Results Anger about police-civilian relations is racialized. Whether it is felt toward officers or toward civilians depends on respondents’ race and past experiences with police. Both types of police-related anger strongly predict support for policing reforms. Conclusion Police-related anger is an important emotional foundation of public policy preferences in the context of policing. Group differences in experienced mistreatment help explain emotional divides as well as the racial gap in support for policing reform.