Latinos polled on criminal justice

National Institute for Latino Policy - At the end of 2017 LatinoJustice PRLDEF commissioned a national poll of Latino community members to document their experiences and opinions about the criminal justice system.

Latinos are convinced that they will be more subject to unlawful deadly force by police compared to whites, they believe local police treat them in ways similar to how African-Americans are treated, and they disavow the use of racial profiling by law enforcement. Eighty four percent of Latinos believe that racial profiling by the police based on race or ethnicity should not be permitted. In the context of the recent national attention given to the treatment of African-Americans by the police nearly two-thirds of Latinos (64%) believe Latinos experience similar treatment at the hands of police with higher proportions of Mexicans, Afro-Latinos, and Latinos directly stopped, arrested or victimized by crime, believing that's the case.

Fifty eight percent of Latinos are convinced police use deadly force unjustly against Latinos versus whites. Many more Latinos who are younger (69%), Afro-Latino (70%), or directly involved in the criminal justice system because they were stopped (71%), arrested (68%) or were victims (64%) hold that same belief.

The poll also demonstrates that Latinos feel less safe after Trump's election and they perceive whites to be more discriminatory or angry towards them since the presidential election. A majority of Latinos (57%) feel less safe since Trump was elected with two-thirds of Latina women feeling less safe since Trump came aboard. Many more Latinos (72%) feel that since his election, whites have become more discriminatory and angry towards Latinos. Latinos in Texas and Arizona know this only too well.

Finally, Latinos are also directly affected by the criminal justice system. Almost a third of all Latinos reported being a victim of crime but 55% of Latinos stopped by police and 64% of Latinos arrested were victims of crime. Latino victims of crime have very strong voter participation rates. 92% of them voted in the 2016 elections, second only to Latino college grads (95%).