STUDIES:   

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“Police departments in labor markets with larger Black and Hispanic populations, are more likely to have an underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic officers relative to the local population…[attenuated by] Black/Hispanic presence among top administrators.” @familyunequal

Black and Hispanic Representation in Policing: Organizational and Local Labor Market Context Black and Hispanic Representation in Policing: Organizational and Local Labor Market Context Table 2 presents the results of the logistic regression models, estimated separately for Black and Hispanic underrepresentation. We find that each of our independent variables is statistically significant for both Blacks and Hispanics. As anticipated, police departments in labor markets with larger Black and Hispanic populations, are more likely to have an underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic officers relative to the local population, although the effect is much stronger for Black population. In addition, those with a greater number of officers on their force are more likely to report underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic officers, but the significant interaction between department size and racial composition suggests that the increase in odds of underrepresentation associated with minority population size is mitigated in larger departments – consistent with our hypothesis that the greater visibility of large departments in high-minority communities contributes to greater representation on police forces. Table 2 presents the results of the logistic regression models, estimated separately for Black and Hispanic underrepresentation. We find that each of our independent variables is statistically significant for both Blacks and Hispanics. As anticipated, police departments in labor markets with larger Black and Hispanic populations, are more likely to have an underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic officers relative to the local population, although the effect is much stronger for Black population. In addition, those with a greater number of officers on their force are more likely to report underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic officers, but the significant interaction between department size and racial composition suggests that the increase in odds of underrepresentation associated with minority population size is mitigated in larger departments – consistent with our hypothesis that the greater visibility of large departments in high-minority communities contributes to greater representation on police forces.
Black and Hispanic Representation in Policing: Organizational and Local Labor Market Context
SocArXiv
Willow W., Moriah / Cohen, Philip N.
January 2017
10.31235/osf.io/5zykt
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