Black Americans are stopped and killed by police at far higher rates than their white counterparts, but little is known about the consequences of this disparity, especially as it relates to trust in government. We present results from 22 focus groups in Milwaukee and St. Louis among Black and white adults. Participants in both cities identify remarkably similar mechanisms linking police contact to institutional trust. For example, vicarious contact with police – particularly through one’s children or parents – appears as influential to trust as direct personal contact. Additionally, participants identify detainment and incarceration as equally influential to trust as police conduct such as traffic stops. While the spatial resolution of trust erosion varies, results indicate it extends far beyond personal-level contact, with some participants emphasizing neighborhood-level policing while others referencing city-wide patterns of racialized enforcement and incarceration. Finally, participants’ narratives reveal nuanced connections between their experiences with aggressive policing, their broader views of government legitimacy, and their willingness to participate in state-administered programs. These qualitative insights, and others, help to inform our understanding of the far-reaching consequences of state violence, especially as they relate to trust and influence.