Americans are ambivalent about the police. We are fascinated by them, as evident in the popularity and proliferation of police shows on television – from dramas such as NYPD Blue and Law and Order to reality programs such as COPS. These shows typically present the police in a sympathetic light, even when they act aggressively or improperly against citizens. Programs such as COPS appear to present the “reality” of everyday patrolling, but with a camera crew present the featured officers are obviously on their best behavior.

On the negative side, Americans' opinions of the police are periodically shaken by revelations in the media of serious incidents of police misconduct (such as brutality) or more entrenched and ongoing problems (such as corruption). Most people were appalled at the gratuitous beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, as reflected in the massive drop in public approval of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the wake of the beating. Just two weeks after the beating, black and Hispanic confidence in the LAPD fell a whopping 50 percentage points – from 80 to 31 percent among Hispanics and from 64 to 14 percent among blacks – according to a Los Angeles Times poll on March 20, 1991. Approval among whites also fell, but less dramatically (from 74 to 41 percent). The killing of Amadou Diallo in February 1999 – after New York City cops fired 41 bullets at him – created a furor in the city, with daily protests outside police headquarters.