Authority and Privilege: Trust in the Police in Latin America

Objective/Context: This study starts by asking what the main determinants of trust in the police are in Latin America. Based on conflict theory, it argues that class divisions and ethnic diversity founded on European colonization have left a legacy of social control conflicts, in which some groups find themselves in a privileged position in their dealings with the police, while others remain in a position of exclusion and vulnerability. Methodology: This research examines data from Latinobarometro 2018. It uses ordinal logistic regression (OLR) models to evaluate the effects of the subject's sociodemographic and attitudinal characteristics, as well as a mixed-effects model to observe contextual level indicators (country characteristics). Conclusions: The confidence of Latin Americans in the police is affected by their class position, their opinion on who governs the country, and their perception of corruption in the members of the institution. Although there is evidence of a lower level of trust among indigenous people, the racial identification of the subjects does not show significant effects. At the contextual level, ethnic fractionalization and the country's homicide rate decrease trust in the police, although inequality (Gini coefficient) shows a positive effect, contrary to what was expected. Originality: The article explores diverse factors that can produce differential treatment between the police and citizens, in a region marked by high levels of inequality and violence.