As recent government administrations prioritized the criminalization and deportation of immigrants, Latinx are in danger of being targeted by police. Thus, it is important to investigate and assess Latinx views of the police in the US in order to create safe communities and reduce crime. To date, no instrument has captured Latinx perceptions of police beyond the frequency of past experience and global perception of the treatment of the general public. Therefore, creating a psychometrically supported measure that captures the unique perceptions of police among the Latinx population is necessary. The current study aims to psychometrically validate the Latinx Perceptions of Police Scale (LPOPS) (e.g., evidence of validity and reliability via confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, convergent and concurrent validity, mean differences among groups, and measurement invariance testing). The study’s final analytic sample included 248 individuals self-identified as Latinx using an online survey. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three-factor model of the LPOPS with a Cronbach’s alpha above 0.85. The LPOPS contains 19 items and three subscales: Police Views of Latinx, Anxiety of Interacting with Police Officers, and Fear of Police Abuse. Results from the Pearson bivariate analysis provided evidence of convergent validity as there were associations between the LPOPS subscales, past measures of view of police (e.g., Perception of Police Scale, Police and Law Enforcement Scale), and other psychological constructs (e.g., anxiety, depression, stress, discrimination). Further, results of the multi-group confirmatory analysis indicated that the LPOPS could be used among (race; skin-tone). Lastly, participants who reported darker skin tones reported higher mean scores on the Anxiety of Interacting with Police Officers and Fear of Police Abuse subscales. By further validating a scale that captures perceptions of police among Latinx in a quantitative way, researchers can begin exploring its association with various mental health outcomes.

Since the passing of anti-immigration laws, Latinos/as have become more vulnerable to racial profiling, thus increasing the chances of having negative interactions with police officers regardless of documentation status. Within criminology fields it has been reported that Latinos/as in general hold a higher fear towards the police when compared to Whites. However, there is has been limited research capturing perceptions of police officers using a quantitative approach. Method: 26 items were developed and was hypothesized to have 3 subscales: Fear of Police Officers, Anxiety of Interacting with Police Officers, and Self-Perceptions of How Police View Latinos/as. The final analytic sample included 288 self-identified as Latinos/as using an online survey. Most of the participants (92.7%) indicated being either U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Results: Results indicated that there were 3 latent factor structure of the POPS with Cronbach’s alpha’s above 0.9. Results from the Pearson bivariate analysis indicated that POPS sub-scale Anxiety of Interacting of police officers positively correlated with anxiety symptoms (r = .47, p < .01). In addition, POPS sub-scale Fear of Police Officers positively correlated with anxiety symptoms (r = .43, p < .01). POPS sub-scale Perceptions of Police Officers (r = .36, p < .01). Furthermore, direct negative past experiences with police officers had a moderation effect between the associations of self-perceptions of how police view Latinos/as and psychological distress by enhancing the relationship between those two variables (ΔR2= .25, F (2, 297) = 31.82, p < .05; (β = -.16, p > .05). Conclusion: This study contributes to our knowledge on self-perceptions of police among ethnic minorities and its association with mental health. These findings warrant attention for law enforcement and health service providers as it can help assist in understanding the mechanism involved in the development of Latino/a mental health disparities.