The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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Views of Police
Treatment
The responses from the self reports are presented in Tables Three and Four. The
question of personal treatment by the police varied between the two races. A majority of
the blacks felt they were treated fairly (63 percent sometimes/most time). Eighty—one
percent of the whites indicated they were treated fair sometimes to most of the time. A
reading of the interviews indicate a majority of the blacks expressing unfair treatment by
the police. This contradicts the self report data. Again, this may be due to a larger sample
in the self report or that in the interviews the youth had an opportunity to expand more on
their responses.
One youth said, “The cops put me into the car and I could hear them talking about
me outside the car, they were calling me spick and stuff like that.” Other blacks indicated
the police used an excess of force. “I gave myself up already, but they still threw me
down and stuck me in the back with a gun.” Another reported, “He grabbed me by the
back of my neck and threw me on the ground.” A few blacks did express they were
treated fairly. “They didn’t make any comments or try to hurt me.” Another stated, “If it
was a different kid, and they did the same thing I did, they would be here too.”
The white youth felt they were treated in a fair manner. One white youth stated he
was treated fairly because the police, “...saw me and all my friends drinking and let us
off.” The whites that felt they were treated unfairly focused on perceived