Studies

Research on racial bias in policing

“Studying race entails more than exposing moments of bias; it also entails examining which behaviors are criminalized, how broad discretionary powers reflect and reinforce racial power, … and why the rallying call to ‘law and order’ … in the post–civil rights era."

“Police used less force with highly stereotypical Whites, and this protective effect was stronger than the effect for non-Whites… Bias is a protective factor for Whites, but not for non-Whites."

“The use of arrest data as the denominator for racial profiling statistics was mostly popular among conservative journalists and pundits for a short time… Since a police ‘stop’ is often a precursor to an arrest, arrest records may be racially skewed."

[an older article, but feels relevant now] “Although police brutality heightened white sensitivity to specific kinds of police brutality … it did not lead more whites to conclude that racism is prevalent in America."

“Perceptions of racial profiling threaten to erode the legitimacy of the criminal, discouraging citizens from participation in the everyday interactions with police that contribute to crime control and public safety. “

More than 2/3 of Black police officers* report being racially profiled with “dark-skinned” officers reporting even higher percentages.*

“Police were more likely to use physical force against Black and Hispanic males not in custody compared to White non-custodial males, even after controlling for citizen resistance and other theoretically important factors."

“Although our results do indicate that racial unevenness is associated with the arrest disparities for ‘softer’ crimes such as drugs and weapons violations, it is not entirely clear whether this effect reflects implicit or explicit biases rooted in race, class, or [both]."

“The few studies that have controlled for the differential involvement of minorities in crime, or for race and crime at the neighborhood level, have found that stop, search, and arrest disparities for Blacks and Hispanics remain after crime rates are held constant."