Perceptions of police: Experiences in the trans* community

ABSTRACT

Transgender people have more frequent and negative interactions with police by way of brutality, unwarranted stops, and detainments on the basis of gender identity (Amnesty International, 2005; Wurth, Schleifer, McLemore, Todrys, & Amon, 2013). The present study aims to expand on current psychological literature by understanding the relationship between gender identity, perceptions of police, and willingness to interact with police. A non-equivalent control group design was employed to compare differences among cisgender men, cisgender women, and trans^* participants regarding their perceptions of police and level of comfort with interacting with police.