Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Quick Takeaways
- 911 calls declined in Black neighborhoods: Residents made 5% fewer discretionary calls in the year following the fatal shooting, even after accounting for crime levels.
- Officer-initiated activity dropped sharply: Proactive policing in Black neighborhoods fell by 43%, while activity in White neighborhoods increased.
- Trust breakdown affects public safety: Fewer calls and less policing create gaps where crimes go unreported and neighborhoods feel less safe.
- Rebuilding trust requires proactive connection: Regular community engagement, partnerships with local leaders, and transparent communication help restore relationships before and after a crisis.
It starts quietly.
A few nights after the protests fade, a woman in a small southeastern city hears the crash of breaking glass outside. Two men are reaching through a car window under the streetlight. She hesitates, phone in hand. She knows she should call 911. But she doesn’t.
A few months earlier, she would have.
Now, she’s not sure what will happen if she does.
When a fatal use of force makes national headlines, the pain is visible. Families grieve. Crowds demand justice. Communities march for change. But when the headlines disappear, something less visible begins to happen. In some neighborhoods, trust in the police does not just fade. It collapses.
People stop calling for help. Officers stop showing up. And the space between them grows wider and quieter.
What Happens After a Fatal Police Shooting
This hesitation is what researchers Kevin J. Strom and Sean Wire wanted to understand. Their study began after a fatal police shooting in a mid-sized city in the southeastern United States in 2016. The incident started as a stop-and-frisk and ended with a Black man dead. The next day, protests filled the streets. But the researchers weren’t looking at the protests or the policies. They wanted to see what changed once everything had calmed down.
They analyzed more than a million calls for service over five years, including hundreds of thousands of 911 calls and officer-initiated activities. They compared what happened before and after the shooting specifically in Black and White neighborhoods. The results tell a story that has repeated itself in other cities but is rarely measured so clearly.
The Silence After the Shooting
In the year following the fatal encounter, 911 calls in Black neighborhoods dropped by 5%. That might sound like a small number, but it represents nearly a 1000 fewer times someone picked up the phone to ask for help.
These were not emergency calls about life-threatening violence. They were the discretionary ones, the calls about community disturbances, social disorder, or suspicious behavior. The types of calls that signal residents are engaged and willing to cooperate with police.
The researchers controlled for crime levels, poverty, neighborhood demographics, and even temperature. After accounting for these factors, the decline in calls remained. The data pointed to one explanation above all: people no longer trusted the police to help.
A similar pattern was observed years earlier in Milwaukee after the beating of Frank Jude. There, Black neighborhoods reported 22,200 fewer calls the year after the story broke. Without calls, crimes went unreported, offenders faced no consequences, and the neighborhood lost its voice.
When Police Pull Back
What surprised the researchers most was how police behavior shifted too.
In the same year that 911 calls declined, officer-initiated activity in Black neighborhoods fell by 43% (around 20,000 fewer proactive actions). At the same time, White neighborhoods saw an increase. These activities include proactive patrols, community engagement, and traffic stops.
This kind of pullback, sometimes called de-policing, happens when officers face public scrutiny or strained community relations. Some may step back out of empathy, giving space to a hurting community. Others may worry that any interaction could escalate or be misinterpreted. Supervisors may quietly redirect resources. Whatever the reason, the effect is the same: police withdraw from the very places where trust is most fragile.
These reductions are not failures of officers. They are understandable responses to a complex and tense environment. Recognizing this is key to designing strategies that support both the community and the officers serving it.
Why This Matters for Community Safety
When residents stop calling and police reduce engagement, neighborhood safety suffers. Crimes go unreported, people who might have been deterred feel emboldened, and small quality-of-life issues escalate. The grandmother afraid to call 911 for help with suspicious people on her block is not just one person. She represents a community losing faith in the system meant to protect it.
The researchers noted that the drop in calls and proactive policing never returned to pre-incident levels in that year. This gap represents an entire year of weakened community relations and unreported incidents.
Incidents like these are rare, but their effects ripple far beyond one encounter. Fatal use of force by police, even when infrequent, can act like public health shocks. It can erode confidence in the police, increase fear of the police, and isolate neighborhoods.
In 2020, public confidence in police fell to its lowest level since Gallup began tracking in 1993. Only 19% of Black adults said they had a great deal of confidence in police, compared with 56% of White adults.
When people stop believing help will come, they stop calling. And when police feel unwanted or unsafe, they pull back. It’s a feedback loop that quietly weakens both trust and safety.
How to Rebuild Trust After a Fatal Incident
Rebuilding trust is not about policing more or less. It is about connection, consistency, and visibility. These practices are most effective when they are in place before a critical incident occurs, so that the relationship between police and community can withstand moments of crisis.
Make officers familiar faces in the community
Residents are more likely to trust officers they see regularly and know personally. Before a critical incident, assign officers to specific neighborhoods for longer periods rather than rotating frequently. Encourage foot patrols, participation in local events, and attendance at community meetings. The goal is for residents to recognize officers by name and face, not just see them as another cop.
Partner with local leaders and organizations
Work closely with neighborhood associations, community-based organizations, and groups such as mothers’ coalitions or youth mentors. These partners can guide outreach, mediate tensions, and co-create programs that address community concerns. Building these connections in advance helps communities respond resiliently after a tragedy.
Communicate proactively and transparently
Timely and clear communication after a critical incident is crucial. Share updates on investigations, explain the steps the department is taking, and use multiple channels such as social media, newsletters, and public meetings. When communication is consistent before a crisis, misinformation has less space to take hold.
Create feedback loops
Trust grows when residents feel their voices matter. Establish advisory boards, hotlines, or digital tools for community input, and respond visibly to concerns or suggestions. Pre-existing systems for feedback ensure that people feel heard even when tensions are high.
Support officers in community engagement
Officers need training and organizational support to engage effectively. Offer ongoing education on cultural competence, conflict resolution, and trauma-informed approaches. Recognize and reward proactive efforts that strengthen relationships. Preparing officers in advance helps them respond thoughtfully when the stakes are highest.
Here is a comprehensive guide from the COPS Office on best practices for community policing. It is detailed and extensive, but it contains a wealth of valuable information for law enforcement agencies and community partners looking to strengthen trust and engagement.
The Road to Rebuilding Trust
A fatal use of force does not just take one life. It can reshape how entire neighborhoods interact with law enforcement and how officers engage with those neighborhoods.
Without trust, safety becomes fragile.
Trust is not built overnight. It is the result of consistent, intentional actions taken over time. When these connections are already in place before a crisis, both residents and officers are better able to navigate the difficult moments that follow. Trust is not optional in policing. It is the foundation of safety.
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