Minnesota's Diverse Communities:
Perceptions of policing

by ALYSON CLARY | Aug. 11, 2021

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin while in police custody. His death was a catalyst for large-scale protests throughout Minnesota and far beyond that lead to renewed scrutiny of how the state’s police interact with people of color and calls for broad transformation to policing and the criminal justice system. But it was a moment that made clear, too, that not all Minnesotans experience the same Minnesota.

This report is the first of several we will issue in coming weeks from the Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey, conducted from April 26 to June 14, 2021, in close proximity to the much-publicized trial of Derek Chauvin, which concluded on April 20th. Among other topics, the survey asked Minnesotans about their attitudes toward and experiences with the state’s police force and criminal justice system. Findings from this part of the survey are summarized below with additional detail available in a longer report on the subject.

Trust in the police

Two-thirds of Minnesota adults say they trust the police to do what is right just about always or most of the time. One-quarter say they trust the police only some of the time and 7% say that they never trust the police to do what is right.

Trust in the police varies substantially along lines of race and ethnicity. Seventy-one percent of White Minnesotans report that they trust the police in Minnesota to do what is right just about always or most of the time compared to only 43% of BIPOC Minnesotans. (BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and people of color.) And only one in five Black Minnesotans responded that they regularly trust the police to do what is right, the lowest response rate across all racial and ethnic groups.

When looking more closely at these response rates, an even starker difference emerges. One-third of White Minnesotans trust the police in Minnesota to do what is right just about always, while only 4% of Black Minnesotans also gave this response. Conversely, one-quarter of Black Minnesotans never trust the police in Minnesota to do what is right compared to 6% of White Minnesotans.

Indigenous, Latinx and Hmong Minnesotans also have lower rates of trust in the police, although they generally hold more trust in the police than Black Minnesotans. Roughly half of each group (43%, 51% and 49%, respectively) responded that they trust the police to do what is right always or most of the time. Sixty-five percent of Asian, excluding Hmong, Minnesotans have less trust than White Minnesotans have in the police to do what is right always or most of the time, but they hold more trust than other racial and ethnic groups surveyed.

When looking at those who trust the police to do what is right just about always, Latinx Minnesotans (23%) came closest to the high response rate among White Minnesotans (33%), surpassing the level of trust among Black, Indigenous and Hmong Minnesotans. Likewise, among those who said they never trust the police in Minnesota to do what is right, Indigenous Minnesotans (17%) came closest to the response rate of Black Minnesotans (25%). However, considering the margin of error, we can only say with certainty that they have higher levels of distrust than Hmong and Minnesotans.

Other than race and ethnicity, political affiliation and other characteristics impact the extent to which people trust the police:

• Republicans (90%) trust the police in Minnesota to do what is right just about always or most of the time at a much higher rate than Democrats (50%) and political independents (65%).

• Minnesotans who live in Greater Minnesota (75%) trust the police to do what is right always or most of the time more than Minnesotans who live in the Twin Cities metro area (59%).

• Minnesotans ages 50 or older are more inclined to trust the police to do what is right regularly compared to younger Minnesotans, ages 18-49. (Forty-seven percent of Minnesotans ages 18-29 and 54% of Minnesotans ages 30-49 trust the police to do what is right just about always or most of the time compared to 79% of Minnesotans ages 50-64 and 82% of Minnesotans ages 65 or older.)

Fair treatment by the police

Roughly three-quarters of BIPOC Minnesotans (78%) believe that other members of their racial or ethnic group often or sometimes face discrimination when interacting with the police compared to just one-quarter of White Minnesotans.

Looking more closely at individual racial or ethnic groups, an astounding 95% of Black Minnesotans believe other Black Minnesotans often or sometimes experience police discrimination. A large majority of Indigenous (86%), Latinx (77%) and Hmong Minnesotans (76%) also believe members of their racial or ethnic group are regularly subjected to police discrimination. Asian, excluding Hmong, Minnesotans (53%) believe that other members of their racial or ethnic group regularly experience discrimination from the police.

There are also differences in the percentage of respondents who answered with “often” versus “sometimes.” A notable majority of Black (66%) and Indigenous Minnesotans (58%) responded that members of their respective racial and ethnic groups are often subject to police discrimination. Latinx, Asian and Hmong Minnesotans were far more likely to report that members of their racial or ethnic group sometimes experience police discrimination.

Besides differences by race and ethnicity, other characteristics appear to be related to Minnesotans’ beliefs about the police:

• Immigrants (64%) responded at a significantly higher frequency than non-immigrants that members of their racial or ethnic group experience police discrimination often or sometimes. (Thirty-two percent of those born in Minnesota answered similarly and 30% of those born in another state.)

• Those who live in the Twin Cities metro area are more likely to believe that members of their racial or ethnic group often experience police discrimination than those who live in Greater Minnesota (13% to 3%, respectively).

Personal interactions with the police

Among Minnesotans who drove a car at least once or twice a month in the last year, the majority of people within each racial or ethnic group reported that they were not pulled over at all in the past two years. White Minnesotans (67%) reported this at a higher rate than Black (56%) and Indigenous Minnesotans (55%). However, Hmong Minnesotans (77%) and Asian, excluding Hmong, Minnesotans (83%) were the most likely to report they had not been pulled over while driving in the last two years.

Fairly equal percentages of all racial and ethnic groups surveyed reported getting pulled over once in the last two years. Black (16%), Indigenous (11%), Latinx (14%) and White Minnesotans (10%) answered that they had been pulled over between two and five times at roughly equivalent rates. However, a significant percentage of Black (8%), Indigenous (18%) and Latinx Minnesotans (11%) responded that they had been pulled over more than once but did not remember the exact number. When the percentages for both answers are combined, around one-quarter each of Black (24%), Indigenous (29%) and Latinx Minnesotans (25%) have been pulled over more than once compared to just over one in 10 White Minnesotans (13%).

When asked if they believe they have personally experienced discrimination based on their race or ethnicity in any police interaction, over one-third of BIPOC Minnesotans (38%) answered affirmatively compared to only 5% of White Minnesotans.

Over half of Black (55%) and Indigenous Minnesotans (56%) believe they have experienced police discrimination based on their race. While these are the highest percentages by far among all racial and ethnic groups, a sizeable portion of Hmong (35%), Latinx (30%) and Asian, excluding Hmong, Minnesotans (20%) also answered that they have faced police discrimination.

Likewise, one-quarter of immigrants living in Minnesota believe they have experienced race-based discrimination when interacting with the police compared to only 5% of Minnesotans who were born in the state.

Only one in 10 Black (11%), Indigenous (9%) and White Minnesotans (10%) answered that they have never interacted with the police in Minnesota. However, roughly one-fifth of Latinx (21%) and Hmong Minnesotans (20%), and one-quarter of Asian, excluding Hmong, Minnesotans (24%) responded that they have not interacted with the police in Minnesota. 

Other Key Findings

We also asked Minnesotans about their experience with the courts and justice system in the state and about their overall feelings of safety in their neighborhood. Key findings are detailed below, but read our full report for complete results and analysis.

Fair treatment from the court system:

• Sixty-five percent of White Minnesotans think that the Minnesota courts and justice system just about always or most of the time treat members of their racial group fairly compared to 22% of BIPOC Minnesotans.

• Only one in 10 Black and Indigenous Minnesotans believe the courts and criminal justice system just about always or most of the time treat others of their racial or ethnic identity fairly. A much higher proportion of Black (57%) and Indigenous Minnesotans (49%) reported that they rarely or never trust the courts or criminal justice system.

• Nearly one in five (18%) younger Minnesotans, ages 18-29, believe the courts and criminal justice system rarely or never treat other members of their racial or ethnic group fairly. This is a higher frequency than Minnesotans ages 50 and older (7% of both Minnesotans ages 50-64 and Minnesotans age 65+ responded similarly).

Feeling safe in the neighborhood:

• Just over half of BIPOC Minnesotans (54%) responded that they feel safe walking alone in their neighborhood at night just about always or most of the time compared to 84% of White Minnesotans.

• Eighty-seven percent of all men in Minnesota reported feeling safe just about always or most of the time compared to 74% of all women.

• Significantly fewer immigrants (50%) who live in Minnesota reported regularly feeling safe walking alone in their neighborhood at night than respondents who were born in Minnesota (82%) or who were born in another state and relocated to Minnesota (81%).

Katherine Sypher provided reporting assistance including creating the graphs on this page.

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