Race and Empathy for the Police

Does the public have empathy for police? And, is there a racial divide in this empathy? Using two national-level samples, fielded a year apart ( N = 960, N = 1,129), we examine empathy toward the police. On the whole, results indicate that police enjoy a great deal of empathy from the public. Descriptively, although Black Americans hold less empathy than White Americans, empathy is still largely present. After considering other emotions, attitudes, and experiences with police, findings show that perceptions of procedural justice are strongly associated with empathy, suggesting a reciprocal nature of in-group behaviors and attitudes with the police and the public. Given these results, police should engage in greater use of procedural justice to strengthen the public’s positive emotions toward police.