Serious cases of abuse of police authority
often stimulate intense public debate.
For example, a videotape of Rodney
King being beaten by Los Angeles police
officers or reports of the torture of Abner
Louima by New York City police capture
the public’s attention and raise troubling
questions regarding the limits of legitimate
police authority in a democratic
society. Are such events isolated occurrences
in particular police departments
or extreme examples of a more general
problem plaguing police departments
across the United States? Does the fact
that such abuses often involve minority
victims reveal important disparities in the
way that law enforcement officers treat
members of certain racial, socioeconomic,
or cultural groups? In turn, what
measures can be taken to constrain police
abuse, and which are likely to be
most effective? Although such questions
have been raised and debated in the media,
by politicians, and by police scholars
and administrators, little is known about
how police officers themselves view these
critical issues.