NORFOLK — A recent survey conducted by Old Dominion University showed that while many people in Hampton Roads are satisfied with and trust the area’s police departments, there may be a discrepancy in that trust between black and white residents.
The “Life in Hampton Roads” survey is an annual report done by ODU’s Social Science Research Center. This year, 908 people living in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News were asked about various topics central to their lives, including health, education, police, and crime.
Those surveyed were of various races, with nearly 51 percent of respondents being white, more than 33 percent being black, and 13 percent being biracial or of another background.
Those percentages do not clearly represent what the U.S. Census Bureau reports as the racial makeup of Hampton Roads, which is home to more than 525,000 black people who make up about 31 percent of the population. At more than 60 percent of the population, there are nearly twice as many white people living in the area, reports show, with a little more than 1 million Caucasians calling Hampton Roads home.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Native American, Asian, biracial and people of other backgrounds make up about 9.1 percent of Hampton Roads’ population, which is in excess of 1.7 million people total.
The “Life in Hampton Roads” survey showed that, while respondent’s overall satisfaction with the area’s police departments landed at 84 percent — nearly 1 percent more than that of respondents in 2016 — that number may not be indicative of how some black people feel about officers patrolling their cities.
People of other races also reported a seemingly substantial dissatisfaction with area police compared to white people, although it is unclear if this is a trend because that demographic information wasn’t reported in depth in the 2015 or 2016 “Life in Hampton Roads” surveys.
Overall satisfaction, trust lower between police and communities of color
Nearly 63 percent of black respondents reported feeling good about their local police departments in 2017. That number is substantially lower than the 73.4 percent of black respondents who reported the same in 2016, according to the survey.
In comparison, 91.3 percent of white people surveyed said they are somewhat or very satisfied with Hampton Roads’ police departments, which was a slight increase from 2016’s respondents who said the same, according to the report.
When asked if they trust local police, about 82.1 percent of all people surveyed said that they do somewhat or a great deal, while 16.7 percent of all respondents said that they don’t trust the police much or at all.
There was a significant gap, however, between those results when they were broken down between white, black and other people of color.
Nearly 32 percent of black people surveyed reported not trusting the police much or at all, compared to 7.4 percent of white people. In contrast, 20.3 percent of people from backgrounds other than white or black said they also didn’t trust police much or at all, the report states.
The number of black people who reported not trusting the police much or at all in 2017 showed a higher percentage than last year’s survey, which said 28 percent of black respondents reported the same.
The survey also considered how satisfied people living in particular cities are.
Those results showed that Virginia Beach residents are the happiest with their police department of all of the seven cities. In 2017, the Virginia Beach Police Department earned a 91.1 percent overall satisfaction rating in this survey.
Norfolk residents were among the unhappiest with their police department, according to the survey. Satisfaction with the Norfolk Police Department was reported at 81.3 percent, making the city the second-most unsatisfied, ahead of Portsmouth residents by 11 percent.
Those results are different than those reported in 2016 when 86.1 percent of Norfolk residents reported feeling satisfied with the city’s police department.
The NPD declined to comment on the survey.
This story is a cumulative report of results given by the “Life in Hampton Roads” survey. This story combines the results of those who felt very and somewhat satisfied, as well as those who felt somewhat dissatisfied and very dissatisfied. To see a deeper numerical breakdown, read the 2017 “Life in Hampton Roads” survey.
Send news tips to [email protected].
