Black Mayors and Police Policies

This study examines the impact of black mayors on police department policies of interest to black citizens in 105 municipal governments in the United States. The correlates of community-oriented policing, minority recruitment, black representation among sworn officers, citizen controls over department policies, and departmental responses to public disorder incidents are examined, and the presence of a black mayor during the time frame in question is found to be associated with both black representation among sworn officers and adoption of citizen controls over the department. The implications of these findings for the study of black mayoral influence are explored.