Youth of color residing in urban areas face elevated risks of vicarious police contact which can intensify feelings of fear, anger, and cynicism toward law enforcement. However, little is known as to how vicarious police stops are patterned across youths’ social circles and how these diverse vicarious exposures shape youths’ attitudes toward and stress about police. The current study analyzed data from the Survey of Police-Adolescent Contact Experiences, a cross-sectional survey of Black youth aged 12–21 in Baltimore City, Maryland (n = 345). Youth self-reported whether they knew anyone who has been stopped by police and selected their relation to who was stopped. They also reported how often they, themselves, engaged in efforts to avoid police, how stressed they were about police violence in their community, and their attitudes of policy legitimacy. The study used descriptive statistics, OLS regression, and ancillary attenuation analyses using the Karlson-Holm-Breen method. Results showed that over 50% of youth knew someone stopped by police, with 12% reporting four or more known persons. Analyses indicated that knowing more individuals stopped by police was associated with increased avoidance and stress while being linked to decreased perceptions of police legitimacy – findings particularly salient for those with four or more known persons stopped by police. Additionally, knowing a friend stopped by police significantly increased both police avoidance and stress levels. These findings underscore the importance of understanding vicarious police contact patterns within youths’ social circles and their implications for stress and attitudes about the police, emphasizing the need to foster positive police-youth relationships and address stress-related outcomes.

居住在城市地区的有色人种青年面临更高的替代警察接触风险，这可能会加剧对执法人员的恐惧、愤怒和愤世嫉俗的感觉。然而，对于青少年社交圈中替代警察拦截的模式以及这些不同的替代暴露如何影响青少年对警察的态度和压力，人们知之甚少。目前的研究分析了警察-青少年接触经历调查的数据，这是一项对马里兰州巴尔的摩市 12-21 岁黑人青年的横断面调查 （n = 345）。青少年自我报告他们是否认识任何被警察拦下的人，并选择他们与被拦下者的关系。他们还报告了他们自己努力躲避警察的频率，他们对社区中警察暴力的压力程度，以及他们对政策合法性的态度。该研究使用了描述 性统计、OLS 回归和使用 Karlson-Holm-Breen 方法的辅助衰减分析。结果显示，超过 50% 的青少年知道有人被警察拦下，其中 12% 的人报告说有四个或更多已知的人。分析表明，知道更多被警察拦截的人与逃避和压力增加有关，同时与对警察合法性的看法降低有关——对于那些有四个或更多已知人员被警察拦截的人来说，这一发现尤其突出。此外，知道朋友被警察拦下显着增加了对警察的逃避和压力水平。这些发现强调了了解青少年社交圈中替代警察接触模式的重要性及其对压力和对警察态度的影响，强调了培养积极的警察与青少年关系和解决与压力相关的结果的必要性。