Immigrants' Perceptions of the Police

In: Sociology compass, Volume 4, Issue 11, p. 924-935

Abstract

AbstractDespite a fast growing immigrant population and the recent intensive debate over immigration law enforcement, research on police‐immigrant relations in general and immigrants' perceptions of the police in particular remains limited. This article comprehensively reviews existing literature on immigrants' perceptions of the police. It starts with the value and timeliness of studying immigrants' attitudes and expectations of the police in today's multi‐racial, multi‐cultural society. Then the article summarizes findings regarding how immigrants perceive the police and what factors shape their perceptions. Evidence about the effects of both universal factors and factors unique to immigrants on their perceptions of the police is presented. The article concludes with a brief discussion of future research.