Trust in police, generally, has fallen to new lows in recent years. People are much more suspicious of, and sometimes even hateful toward, police officers. In some ways, this follows a broader trend of less trust in authorities and institutions.

But what exactly is responsible for the decline in this public trust? And what can we do about it?

Why Trust in Police Matters

First, why should we care?

For starters, police officers serve a very important function in our society. They keep us safe. They prevent crimes through routine policing. They stopped criminals in action. And they help exercise justice from beginning to end. Distrusting police officers threatens these processes and leads to worse public relations. When police officers don’t feel a sense of connection to a community, they may not be able to perform their jobs as well.

Additionally, the trust and respect we hold in police institutions dictates the types of people who eventually become police officers. If we don’t trust police officers, or if we hate police officers, fewer good candidates will step forward to become police officers.

This is why it’s imperative that we have individuals and organizations fighting to repair relationships between police and the general public. The National Police Association, for example, works hard to dispel misinformation and foster better relationships between police officers and their communities. But we’ll all have a much easier time correcting this social and cultural issue if we better understand the root causes of low trust.

Why Has Trust in Police Fallen So Low?

There are many explanations for why trust in police has fallen so low as of late.

•       Generally lower trust. Confidence in institutions has fallen across the board. People are inherently less trusting of their governments, their employers, and even each other. Many sociologists and commentators have speculated about why this might be the case, but it’s probably due to a variety of different factors. For example, the internet has made society more transparent, but also exposed us to more sources of information, and the COVID-19 pandemic made us more isolated and a bit more paranoid. In any case, falling trust in police officers could be an extension of this broader trend.
•       Changes in policing. Certain changes in styles of policing may also be influential here. For the most part, the days of beat cops walking around neighborhoods are over. Police departments are more militarized and more separated from the people they serve, leading to a feeling of distance and disconnection.
•       High-profile incidents. Many people point to high-profile incidents that have gradually eroded trust in police officers. Police officers have shot, assaulted, and killed many suspects in questionable circumstances, and these incidents have been widely circulated and commentated on, often by people who didn’t know all the facts associated with these cases.
•       Racial and ethnic conflict. White people are much more likely to trust police officers than Hispanic and Black people. Probably for many reasons, there are racial and ethnic disparities we must acknowledge. Every problematic incident that includes a White police officer and a Black suspect deepens racial tensions.
•       News coverage and social media sharing. In traditional news media and on social media, people are more likely to watch, share, and engage with stories that evoke disgust or outrage. Content creators, therefore, selectively choose to showcase outrageous stories, including those involving police officers. We’re, therefore, much more likely to find videos of police officers acting in questionable ways than we are to find videos of police officers handling mundane situations responsibly.
•       Trends and collectivist thinking. Strangely, it’s a bit trendy to distrust and speak out against police officers. Young people have always leaned toward being anti-establishment, but it’s only recently that younger generations have become so brazenly and vocally anti-cop.
•       Echo chambers. Public opinions are often reinforced by echo chambers that people voluntarily subscribe themselves to. It’s only natural for people to seek out like-minded peers, but sometimes, these groupings can entrench ideologies and opinions, ultimately reinforcing anti-police sentiments.
•       Recruiting and hiring issues. It doesn’t help that police departments all over the country have struggled with recruiting and hiring. Partly because trust in police has fallen so low, fewer people are interested in becoming police officers – and it’s harder than ever to find and retain good candidates.

What Can We Do?

There are many reasons why trust in police officers has fallen so low. But if we’re being practical, our biggest priority needs to be figuring out what we can do about it. There are many strategies that can have an impact, such as reaching out to your local police department, encouraging more community policing, and refusing to judge police interactions until all the facts are known. 

We’ll need to take things one step at a time if we’re going to enact a significant positive change.