Public opinion on police misconduct: Discrimination and information resistance.

Abstract

High-profile cases of police violence have given rise to contentious debates, yet scholars know little about why individuals interpret violent police encounters differently. We fielded a survey experiment in Germany designed to probe whether the victim's identity matters to public opinion (<i>N</i> = 15,941). Our design approximates the way news events unfold sequentially over time, allowing us to measure whether eventual discriminatory beliefs persist even in the face of mounting evidence. We show that respondents are less likely to consider the actions of the police to constitute misconduct when the victim has an immigrant name compared to a traditionally German name. Discriminatory beliefs remain even when respondents are informed about evidence confirming that misconduct occurred. Our analysis shows that these results are driven by right-wing respondents, with both moderates and extremists exhibiting discriminatory beliefs and a resistance to updating. These findings help illuminate why debates over policing are so intractable.