The overwhelming majority of Americans expressed satisfaction with their contacts with American law enforcement and most indicated a willingness to engage them again.
Contact with police during the past 12 months decreased by 21%. It continues to decrease throughout the three USDOJ reports.
Both the number and percentage of residents experiencing the threat of force “or” use of nonfatal force were lower in 2022 (748,800, 1.5%) than in 2020 (1,045,600, 1.9%).
The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice through the National Crime Victimization Survey offers their third report on citizen contacts with law enforcement and citizen satisfaction with those encounters.
Readers are encouraged to read the full report, Contacts Between Police and the Public, 2022 released in October of 2024. I summarized the report below for your convenience but the charts are important for fully understanding police contacts.
Understanding American Law Enforcement
For those of us who read numerous articles about crime and policing daily, cops doing something stupid or illegal are common themes in media coverage and some make it their specialty.
A question from some non-police readers is, “Why do cops engage in massive disrespect or illegal use of force?” When questioned I send them the link to this report which has been replicated several times and essentially carries similar statistics. It disproves much of the narrative of critics.
While no one is trying to downplay egregious acts of violence on the part of law enforcement, the replicated data from the US Department of Justice doesn’t fit a stereotype of American policing while understanding that there are differences (and similarities) based on race or Hispanic origin.
The public should understand that out of 50-60 million yearly contacts between law enforcement and citizens, it’s almost impossible for all to be handled perfectly. As a former police officer who was dedicated to equal treatment under the law, I understood that those I interacted with could be abusive, violent, aggressive, and downright impossible to work with.
Many have mental health issues. Per the USDOJ, most are under the influence during arrests. Yet force “or” the threat of force is rare in American policing per the citizens asked.
The law enforcement profession has taken a beating (yes, some of it was justified) yet other occupations seem immune. The data I read about the hundreds of thousands of medical mistakes makes me wary but I do not believe that nurses or doctors are somehow flawed. Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States.
It’s the same for journalism, business, or any other occupation. There are approximately 19,000 police agencies and well over one million police employees according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the stereotyping of all police employees based on the actions of a few has the same philosophical underpinnings as racism or sexism.
According to the Bureau Of Labor Statistics and endless media references, we are losing thousands of police officers and it’s reasonable to assume they are leaving (often at the insistence of their families) due to the negative stereotypes they face. This condition leaves more Americans unserved due to long wait times for officers to arrive. It also correlates with crime based on US Department of Justice literature reviews indicating that proactive policing is one of the most successful crime control modalities.
The data is abundantly clear, arrests and crimes solved are declining considerably.
There are, at times, differences (and similarities) as to race or Hispanic heritage and the percentage of populations involved per this report. While every police officer takes an oath pledging themselves to equal treatment under the law, and while I condemn any person in authority misusing their powers, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are differences in the percentage of populations engaged in criminal activity that provide context.
As to race or Hispanic origin, the charts offer times when Blacks are disproportionally represented as a percentage of the population studied. There are times when Whites are disproportionally represented (i.e., police street stops).
Critics of law enforcement consistently complain of over-policing. The overall percentages do not support their assertions. The overwhelming majority of those contacted, regardless of demographics, indicated satisfaction with their police interactions.
It should be noted via polls from a variety of sources, that the law enforcement profession is one of the highest-rated occupations in America, far exceeding most including Congress and journalism.
In Summation
Contact with police during the past 12 months decreased by 21%. It continues to decline throughout the three reports. That’s a huge decrease. Why?
One percent of citizens indicate police misconduct out of 50-60 million yearly contacts.
Approximately 86% reported that they were satisfied with the police response, with 92% saying they would be more or as likely to contact police again in the future. About 84% of residents reported that police responded promptly.
The overwhelming majority of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics were satisfied with the police response and indicated that they were willing to contact law enforcement in the future.
About 2% of persons experienced the threat of force “or” nonfatal use of force during any police contact in 2022.
Both the number and percentage of residents experiencing the threat of force “or” use of nonfatal force was lower in 2022 (748,800, 1.5%) than in 2020 (1,045,600, 1.9%).
The majority of persons whose most recent police contact was a street stop experienced no enforcement action. In 2022, the majority (78%) of U.S. residents whose most recent police contact was a street stop (being stopped by police while in a public place or parked vehicle) experienced no resulting enforcement action. Twenty-two percent of residents experienced some form of enforcement action, most often a warning (14%).
An estimated 4% of residents engaged in at least one potentially negative action toward police in 2022. The most common action was complaining to police (4%), followed by verbal action (2%) and physical action (0.2%).
USDOJ Report Background
In 2022, an estimated 19% of U.S. residents age 16 or older (about 49.2 million persons) reported experiencing contact with police during the past 12 months, a decrease from the 21% who reported contact in 2020.
About 8% of residents experienced a police-initiated contact in 2022, while 11% experienced a resident-initiated contact and 3% were involved in a traffic accident that led to a police contact.
The findings in this report are based on data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) 2022 Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS), with selected data from the 2020 and 2018 PPCS data collections.
The PPCS is a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which collects information from a nationally representative sample of persons age 12 or older in U.S. households. The PPCS collects information from persons age 16 or older on nonfatal contacts with police during the 12 months prior to the interview. Police contacts were classified by the year of the survey and not by the year of the contact.
Highlights
About 19% (49.2 million) of U.S. residents age 16 or older had contact with police in 2022.
A smaller percentage of persons had contact with police in 2022 (19%) than in 2020 (21%).
In 2022, males (8%) were more likely than females (7%) to experience police-initiated contact, while females (12%) were more likely than males (11%) to initiate contact with police.
Among U.S. residents who initiated their most recent contact with police, almost half (46%) did so to report a possible crime.
Black persons (6%) were more likely to experience the threat “or” use of force than White (2%) or Hispanic persons (2%) or persons of another race (1%) during their most recent police-initiated or traffic accident contact in 2022. Use “or” threat of force involving Blacks declined.
The share of persons who reported experiencing police misconduct during their most recent contact was not statistically different between 2020 and 2022 (1% in each year).
In 2022, the majority (78%) of persons whose most recent contact was a street stop experienced no enforcement action.
Demographics
In 2022, males (8%) were more likely than females (7%) to have police-initiated contact, while females (12%) were more likely than males (11%) to initiate contact with police.
There was no significant difference between the percentages of males and females who had any police contact or contact related to a traffic accident in 2022.
Across race and Hispanic origin, White persons (20%) were more likely than Black (16%), Hispanic (16%), or Asian (12%) persons, but less likely than persons of another race (25%), to have any contact with police in 2022.
White persons were more likely than Black, Hispanic, or Asian persons, but less likely than persons of another race, to have resident-initiated or police-initiated contact with police.
White persons (2.5%) were more likely than Asian persons (2%), but less likely than Black persons (3%), to have contact with police as the result of a traffic accident.
Persons ages 18 to 24 were more likely than persons in other age groups to experience any contact with police (25%), police-initiated contact (15%), and police contact related to a traffic accident (4%).
Persons ages 18 to 24 (11%) were less likely than persons ages 25 to 44 (13%) or 45 to 64 (12%), but more likely than persons ages 16 to 17 (4%) or age 65 or older (9%), to initiate contact with police.
Resident contact with police was lower in 2022 than in 2020 and 2018.
A lower percentage of U.S. residents experienced any type of police-initiated contact in 2022 (8%) than in 2020 (10%) or 2018 (11%).
This decrease was driven by a decline in the percentage of residents experiencing police contact as drivers in traffic stops or passengers in traffic stops. A smaller share of residents in 2022 (2.5%) than in 2020 (3%) or 2018 (3%) had contact with police related to a traffic accident.
The percentage of residents who initiated contact with police in 2022 (11%) was not significantly different from in 2020 but was lower than in 2018 (14%).
Use Of Force (click chart to enlarge)
About 2% of persons experienced the threat of force “or” nonfatal use of force during any police contact in 2022. U.S. residents age 16 or older who had one or more contacts with police in the past 12 months were asked whether they experienced the threat of force or use of nonfatal force during any contact.
Both the number and percentage of residents experiencing the threat of force “or” use of nonfatal force were lower in 2022 (748,800, 1.5%) than in 2020 (1,045,600, 1.9%).
In 2022, a higher percentage of males (2%) than of females (1%) experienced the threat or use of nonfatal police force.
Black persons (4%) were more likely than white persons (1%) to experience the threat “or” use of nonfatal force.
Residents ages 18 to 24 (2%) were more likely to experience the threat “or” use of nonfatal force than those age 65 or older (1%).
In general, similar shares of residents in most demographic categories experienced the threat or use of nonfatal force in 2022 and 2020; however, females, Hispanic persons, and persons ages 18 to 24 were less likely to experience the threat “or” use of nonfatal force in 2022 than in 2020.
Police-Initiated Contacts (click chart to enlarge)
Males were more likely than females to be pulled over while driving In 2022, drivers in traffic stops accounted for the majority (58%) of persons whose most recent police contact was initiated by police.
Males (62%) were more likely than females (52%) to be the driver in a traffic stop, while females (21%) were more likely than males (12%) to be the passenger.
White persons (56%) were less likely than Black persons (62%) to be the driver in a traffic stop during their most recent police contact.
There were no statistically significant differences by race or Hispanic origin in the percentage of persons stopped by police as a passenger in a traffic stop or in a street stop.
Persons ages 16 to 24 (25%) were more likely than persons of any other age group to have been the passenger in a traffic stop in their most recent contact with police.
Persons ages 16 to 24 (12%) were also more likely than persons ages 45 to 64 (10%) or age 65 or older (9%) to have a street stop as their most recent contact with police.
Note that the other category includes: Residents who reported police-initiated contact for some other reason, such as police providing and/or seeking information about a crime, accidentally going to the wrong address, looking for a lost pet, or contacting as part of the resident’s work as a first responder or volunteer
Traffic Tickets
In 2022, Hispanic drivers (53%), Black drivers (46%), and drivers of another race (49%) were more likely to receive a ticket than White drivers (39%).
Street Stops
The majority of persons whose most recent police contact was a street stop experienced no enforcement action. In 2022, the majority (78%) of U.S. residents whose most recent police contact was a street stop (being stopped by police while in a public place or parked vehicle) experienced no resulting enforcement action. Twenty-two percent of residents experienced some form of enforcement action, most often a warning (14%).
6.3% of Whites resulted in a search or arrest compared to 7.5 percent of Blacks.
Misconduct
About 1% of U.S. residents experienced police misconduct during their most recent contact U.S. residents who had police contact, except as part of a block watch or other anti-crime program, were asked if police behaved properly during their most recent contact.
Residents who reported that police did not behave properly were asked follow-up questions, including whether police called them a slur or degrading name, seemed motivated by prejudice or bias toward them, or spoke to or touched them in a sexual manner.
In 2022, about 1% of U.S. residents experienced misconduct during their most recent contact with police. One percent felt police behaviors were motivated by prejudice or bias, and 0.2% said police called them a slur or degrading name. White persons (0.7%) were less likely than black persons (4.2%) or Hispanic persons (1.4%) to experience any type of police misconduct in 2022. There were no significant differences in the percentage of persons in 2020 and 2022 who reported that police treated them with bias or prejudice.
Citizen Actions Against Law Enforcement
An estimated 4% of residents engaged in at least one action toward police in 2022 U.S. residents were also asked about their own conduct or actions, during their most recent police-initiated or traffic accident-related contact. Those actions included complaining to the officer(s), verbal actions (e.g., cursing at, insulting, or verbally threatening the police officer(s)), and physical actions (such as trying to get away; resisting being handcuffed, searched, or arrested; or physically doing anything else to police).
An estimated 4% of residents engaged in at least one action toward police in 2022. The most common action was complaining to police (4%), followed by verbal action (2%) and physical action (0.2%).
These percentages were not statistically different from 2020. 3.8% of Whites took this action compared to 7.5% of Blacks and 3.4% of Hispanics.
Satisfaction With Police
Most residents who initiated police contact were satisfied with the police response. Residents who initiated their most recent contact with police (except as part of a block watch or other anticrime program) were asked about their perception of police.
Approximately 86% reported that they were satisfied with the police response, with 92% saying they would be more or as likely to contact police again in the future. About 84% of residents reported that police responded promptly.
The overwhelming majority of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics were satisfied with the police response and indicated that they were willing to contact law enforcement in the future.
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