Abstract
A panel survey of nearly four hundred St. Louis County, MO residents both before and after the shooting death of Michael Brown reveal a dramatic impact of that incident and the civil unrest and police handling of the unrest on residents perceptions of police. African American residents, on average, supported the public’s response to the police shooting but disagreed with the police response to the protests, looting and riots that followed, while nonblack residents’ views were just the opposite. Additionally, in the time immediately following the shooting, African American residents’ trust in police procedural justice and perceptions of police legitimacy declined by twenty-six and eight percent respectively, while non-black residents saw non-significant improvements in perceptions of procedural justice and legitimacy. Although residents of both racial backgrounds reported increases in aggressive policing tactics during that time, African American residents reported significantly greater increases—in fact, a twenty-one percent increase in the frequency of aggressive tactics. Where views did not differ by race was that residents of both races supported the use of body or dash cameras, focus groups of residents and police to discuss police practices, and more frequent police patrols to improve confidence and trust in police.