Younger officers worry more often about their physical safety

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1. Police culture

White officers differ from blacks and Hispanics over when it’s appropriate to break department rules

About six-in-ten officers say their work nearly always or often makes them feel proud

Administrators about twice as likely as rank-and-file officers to have participated in a community event in the past month

White and Hispanic officers, more than blacks, report being verbally abused by community members

For many officers, being thanked and verbally abused are commonplace

Male officers, whites more likely to have fired service weapon on duty

Men, newer officers more likely to report violent encounters with resistant suspects

Younger officers worry more often about their physical safety

White officers less likely than other groups to say accountability a motive

Race and rank linked to feelings about police work

Do Americans understand the challenges police face on the job?

Some officers say tough, aggressive tactics are needed with some people in some neighborhoods

Most officers say protests mainly motivated by bias toward police

Most white, Latino officers say fatal encounters between blacks and police are isolated incidents; majority of black officers disagree

Impact of fatal incidents involving blacks felt more by large departments than by small agencies

Roughly two-thirds of officers say they favor the use of body cameras

About half say disciplinary process in their department is fair

Most officers say their department has too few officers to police the community

Majority of full-time officers are in agencies with at least 100 officers

White officers more likely than black officers to have had a physical altercation with a suspect

The dual nature of police work: For officers, emotions and experiences are often in conflict

Police, public divided by race over whether attaining equality requires more changes

Majority of police say fatal police-black encounters are isolated incidents; majority of the public says they point to a bigger problem

Officers say fatal encounters between police and blacks have made policing harder

White officers differ from blacks and Hispanics over when it’s appropriate to break department rules

Race and rank linked to feelings about police work

About six-in-ten officers say their work nearly always or often makes them feel proud

Administrators about twice as likely as rank-and-file officers to have participated in a community event in the past month

White and Hispanic officers, more than blacks, report being verbally abused by community members

For many officers, being thanked and verbally abused are commonplace

Most police say the public doesn’t understand the risks they face

Male officers, whites more likely to have fired service weapon on duty

Men, newer officers more likely to report violent encounters with resistant suspects

Younger officers worry more often about their physical safety

About six-in-ten police officers see themselves as protectors and enforcers

About four-in-ten officers say they are formally or informally expected to meet a certain number of arrests or tickets

Most officers favor a requirement to intervene when another officer is about to use unnecessary force

More police worry their fellow officers will not act quickly enough than worry they will act too quickly

About a third of officers say, when put to the test, use-of-force guidelines in their department are very useful

Officers in larger departments are more likely to say their use-of-force guidelines are too restrictive

Officers in large agencies less likely to say their department has trained and equipped them very well

About four-in-ten officers say their department has done very well in training them adequately for their job

Most officers say their department has too few officers to police the community

Officers in smaller agencies more likely to agree that their agency’s disciplinary process is fair

For minor mistakes, more officers today agree coaching is used vs. punishment

Officers’ assessments of key aspects of the disciplinary process are mixed

For assignments and promotions, about four-in-ten female officers say men are treated better than women

In 2013, racial and ethnic minorities accounted for about a quarter of the police force and women made up about one-in-eight police officers

About half of black officers say whites are treated better than minorities in assignments and promotions

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Younger officers worry more often about their physical safety

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