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Poll: Police harassment familiar to young blacks, Hispanics

FILE - In this July 15, 2016, file photo, the casket of Alton Sterling is placed into a glass covered hearse following his funeral service at the F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge, La., Two-thirds of young African-Americans and 4 in 10 Hispanics say that they or someone they know has experienced violence or harassment at the hands of the police, according to a new GenForward poll. The first-of-its-kind poll pays special attention to the voices of young adults of color, highlighting how race and ethnicity shape the opinions of a new generation. Two of the more recent killings were the July 5 shooting death of Alton Sterling during a struggle with officers in Baton Rouge. (AP Photo/Max Becherer, File)
FILE - In this July 15, 2016, file photo, the casket of Alton Sterling is placed into a glass covered hearse following his funeral service at the F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge, La., Two-thirds of young African-Americans and 4 in 10 Hispanics say that they or someone they know has experienced violence or harassment at the hands of the police, according to a new GenForward poll. The first-of-its-kind poll pays special attention to the voices of young adults of color, highlighting how race and ethnicity shape the opinions of a new generation. Two of the more recent killings were the July 5 shooting death of Alton Sterling during a struggle with officers in Baton Rouge. (AP Photo/Max Becherer, File) FILE - In this July 15, 2016, file photo, the casket of Alton Sterling is placed into a glass covered hearse following his funeral service at the F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge, La., Two-thirds of young African-Americans and 4 in 10 Hispanics say that they or someone they know has experienced violence or harassment at the hands of the police, according to a new GenForward poll. The first-of-its-kind poll pays special attention to the voices of young adults of color, highlighting how race and ethnicity shape the opinions of a new generation. Two of the more recent killings were the July 5 shooting death of Alton Sterling during a struggle with officers in Baton Rouge. (AP Photo/Max Becherer, File)

By Associated Press 5 min read

DETROIT (AP) – Crystal Webb cringes whenever a patrol car appears in her rearview mirror. She also never wants to see the inside of a police station again.

Her personal experience with police, plus recent fatal shootings of unarmed black men by white officers, has led the Apple Valley, California, mother of two to ask: Who are the good guys and who are bad?

“You are the people I’m supposed to go to when I’m in trouble,” Webb says of police.

Two-thirds of young African-Americans and 4 in 10 Hispanics say that they or someone they know has experienced violence or harassment at the hands of the police, according to a new GenForward poll. That includes about 2 in 10 in each group who say that was a personal experience, including about 3 in 10 black men who say the same. But the poll also shows that young people still desire a police presence in their communities.

GenForward is a survey of adults age 18 to 30 by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The first-of-its-kind poll pays special attention to the voices of young adults of color, highlighting how race and ethnicity shape the opinions of a new generation.