Repeated police stops erode citizens’ sense of equal standing and legitimacy of law

Evidence

In response to continually being stopped by the police, African Americans describe fear, resentment, and a sense of feeling violated—all of which can cause them to call into question their status as equal citizens who are free to move about without the intrusion and surveillance of the state (Epp et al., 2014). Over time, the feeling of being a target can undermine a person’s dignity and erode community members’ trust and sense of the police as fair and legitimate (Tyler, 2003). — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 440

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the procedural justice literature (Tyler) which supports the moderation/surveillance angle explored in the reader’s broader policing work. — connects to: A single viral image of police brutality converted ordinary citizens into protesters — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 335; Police treatment teaches stopped citizens their own worthiness of respect — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 506; Ambiguous police stops confirm minorities’ belief that officers are racist (+1 more)