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A growing body of evidence shows that minorities are disproportionately the targets of police brutality, but important theoretical questions about the causes of that inequity remain unanswered. One promising line of research involves structural-level analyses of the incidence of police brutality complaints; however, existing studies do not incorporate variables from alternative theoretical explanations. Drawing on the community accountability hypothesis and the threat hypothesis, we tested the predictions of two prominent structural-level explanations of police brutality in a study of civil rights criminal complaints. The study included cities of 150,000+ population (n = 114). The findings reveal that two community accountability variables-ratio percent Hispanic citizens to percent Hispanic police officers and the presence of citizen review-were related positively to police brutality complaints, partially supporting that perspective. Two threat hypothesis measures of threatening people-percent black and percent Hispanic (in the Southwest)-were related positively to complaints, as predicted. The relative degree of support for the two hypotheses is assessed.
KEYWORDS: Police brutality, police-community relations, police organization, minority threat, racial discrimination.
Belief in equal justice pervades American society. Yet, abiding skepticism prevails among minority citizens. The mistrust expressed by minorities is hardly surprising given their history of differential treatment by agents of criminal justice, a problem that is especially apparent in police-minority relations. Police reactions to minority citizens have long been a focus of scholarly research, and studies in this tradition provide ample evidence of minority disadvantage at the hands of police (e.g., Blauner, 1972; Chambliss, 2001; Feagin, 1991; Holmes, 2000; Irwin, 1985; Myrdal, 1944; Seilin, 1930; Westley, 1953, 1970). Although various police behaviors have been called into question, the use of excessive force epitomizes the tensions between minority citizens and the police, and its use directs attention to theoretical questions regarding the function of the police in maintaining the existing racial order.
The legitimate use of force constitutes the essence of the police role (Bittner, 1970). Nevertheless, the reality that the police limit individual freedom requires that their authority be sharply circumscribed in democratic societies (Goldstein, 1977). Accordingly, the use of force may be judged proper or excessive, depending on whether it is necessary and justified to accomplish a legitimate police duty (Kania and Mackey, 1977). It is excessive physical force that most clearly defines police brutality...