But you don't have to read far to get to this bit:
> Fewer than one in five Black Americans feel very confident that the police in their area would treat them with courtesy and respect. While similar to the 24% of Asian Americans saying the same, it is markedly lower than the 40% of Hispanic Americans and the 56% of White Americans who feel this way. This could either stem from Black Americans' own negative experiences with the police or from their familiarity with people who have had negative encounters with law enforcement.
Most Americans (52%) according to the poll, are not very confident that police would treat them with courtesy and respect. That's shameful if you ask me. The power that police wield makes it all the more important that they are respectful in their interactions with the public. But we wouldn't accept that kind of performance in any private business front of house role
Considering the nature of many (not most) police interactions (i.e. as a suspect, even just a speeding ticket) what would you consider a reasonable target for "courteous and respectful" interactions? 100%?
I would just find it hard to believe if I've just committed a crime and been arrested by the police that I would be able to describe the interaction as "courteous and respectful", even if the police did everything right.
> Considering the nature of many (not most) police interactions (i.e. as a suspect, even just a speeding ticket) what would you consider a reasonable target for "courteous and respectful" interactions? 100%?
Yes. I'd aim for 100%.
Obviously that's hard to reach, but I think it's certainly possible to do better than 50%. (Though note that it was presumed 50%, not actual measured 50%, so it's more about perception than necessarily about reality).
As you allude to, many interactions with the police are not in the context of getting arrested. You might be the one to call the police if you need them for whatever reason, you might be just an onlooker, you might randomly see police moving around your city for whatever reason.
But even in cases like speeding tickets, there's no reason for the police not to be courteous and respectful, so long as you behave that way.
I'm not disagreeing, it was an honest question and your answer is reasonable.
We should aim for 100%, but it's unlikely we'd ever get there in the real world.
What would make a good metric is having a similar score across all communities as well. Obviously the black and Asian communities have a different perspective and that's something that could be fixed.
> Fewer than one in five Black Americans feel very confident that the police in their area would treat them with courtesy and respect. While similar to the 24% of Asian Americans saying the same, it is markedly lower than the 40% of Hispanic Americans and the 56% of White Americans who feel this way. This could either stem from Black Americans' own negative experiences with the police or from their familiarity with people who have had negative encounters with law enforcement.
Most Americans (52%) according to the poll, are not very confident that police would treat them with courtesy and respect. That's shameful if you ask me. The power that police wield makes it all the more important that they are respectful in their interactions with the public. But we wouldn't accept that kind of performance in any private business front of house role