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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for stop and search
55 results foundAuthor: Great Britain. Equality and Human Rights Commission Title: Stop and Think: A Critical Review of the Use of Stop and Search Powers in England and Wales Summary: This report reviews the disproportional impact of stop and search on black and Asian people in England and Wales. The figures are stark: if you are a black person, you are at least six times as likely to be stopped and searched by the police in England and Wales as a white person. If you are Asian, you are around twice as likely to be stopped and searched as a white person. Despite years of debate and several initiatives aimed at tackling the problem, these ratios have stayed stubbornly high. The majority of stops and searches in England and Wales are conducted under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE). We believe that the current police use of PACE stop and search powers may be unlawful, disproportionate, discriminatory and damaging to relations within and between communities. Details: London: Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2010. 110p. Source: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160221235622/http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/stop-and-think-critical-review-use-stop-and-search-powers-england-and-wales Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160221235622/http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/stop-and-think-critical-review-use-stop-and-search-powers-england-and-wales Shelf Number: 117804 Keywords: PoliceRacial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Tolman, Molly Title: Smarter Policing Practices: Creating a Safer, More Unified Texas. 2007 Racial Profiling Report Summary: Texas’ racial profiling law (S.B. 1074, passed in 2001) requires every Texas law enforcement agency to annually create a report on the race of individuals they stop and search and submit it to their local governing body. Because no central repository was written into the law to collect and analyze the data on a statewide level, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) has served since the inaugural year of data reporting as the sole statewide repository and analyst of required, annual racial profiling reports from Texas law enforcement agencies. In this role, TCJC obtains valuable feedback from law enforcement and community members and has assisted agencies in understanding their data, streamlining their reporting practices, and improving the way they protect the public through the implementation of needed policy changes. We also offer technical assistance to agencies regarding the requirements of the law. To obtain the pool of agencies analyzed in this report, TCJC sent open records requests to 1,074 law enforcement agencies in October, 2006; we requested a copy of each agency’s racial profiling report containing racial profiling data for calendar year 2005, as well as the racial profiling policy in use by each agency during 2005. Of agencies that responded with usable information prior to the data analysis process, 221 agencies issued 3,000 or more citations, accounting for 4.9 million stops. Though in some ways 3,000 is an arbitrary number, we chose these 221 agencies to avoid small samples that were not statistically significant. This report focuses on 2005-year data regarding disparities in consent search rates. Consent searches occur when law enforcement officers have no legal basis for a search (such as reasonable suspicion, probable cause, or a warrant). Because requesting these searches falls fully within an officer’s discretion, analysis of consent search rates comes closest to measuring, from the available data, how officers use their discretion differently depending on places and races. We determined that some law enforcement agencies continue to have problems complying with the data collection and reporting requirements of Texas’ racial profiling law. Law enforcement, the public, and key stakeholders need a more comprehensive picture of what is happening at Texas traffic stops in order to create better community policing models. As the sole statewide repository of Texas racial profiling reports, TCJC is well positioned to offer recommendations about what works – and what doesn’t work – when it comes to the data collection and reporting provisions of Texas’ racial profiling law. As such, throughout the pages of this report we have suggested solutions to the problems facing law enforcement as they undergo data collection and reporting processes, as well as recommendations related to other provisions within the law. Details: Austin, TX: Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, 2007. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2011 at: http://www.criminaljusticecoalition.org/files/userfiles/publicsafety/Reports_manuals/2007_racial_profiling_report.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.criminaljusticecoalition.org/files/userfiles/publicsafety/Reports_manuals/2007_racial_profiling_report.pdf Shelf Number: 121110 Keywords: Police DiscretionRacial DisparitiesRacial Profiling (Texas)Stop and Search |
Author: Victoria (Australia). Office of Police Integrity Title: Review of Victoria Police Use of ‘Stop and Search’ Powers Summary: This report presents the findings of a Review of Victoria Police use of ‘stop and search’ powers associated with the control of weapons. The review found little evidence to suggest that concerns have been realised relating to arbitrary use of powers or the targeting of particular groups. It also found that Victoria Police is not able to meet the legislative reporting requirements due to inadequate data collection and retrieval mechanisms. Details: Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer, 2012. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2012 at: http://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/Review%20of%20Victoria%20Police%20use%20of%20%27stop%20and%20search%27%20powers.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/Review%20of%20Victoria%20Police%20use%20of%20%27stop%20and%20search%27%20powers.pdf Shelf Number: 125235 Keywords: Police DiscretionPolicing (Australia)Racial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchWeapons |
Author: La Vigne, Nancy Title: Key Issues in the Police Use of Pedestrian Stops and Searches: Discussion Papers from an Urban Institute Roundtable Summary: This compilation of papers examines how and why police stop and search pedestrians, and what the impact of that practice is on communities and public safety. Each paper presents the topic from researcher to practitioner perspectives with a primary focus on the implications for law enforcement practice. The papers discuss issues such as citizens' perceptions of street stops and their implications for police legitimacy; the disproportionate impact of street stops in communities of color; and ways in which stops and searches could be conducted in a manner that preserves police-community relations. Details: Washington, DC: Urban Institute, Justice Policy Center, 2012. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 26, 2012 at: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412647-Key-Issues-in-the-Police-Use-of-Pedestrian-Stops-and-Searches.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412647-Key-Issues-in-the-Police-Use-of-Pedestrian-Stops-and-Searches.pdf Shelf Number: 126999 Keywords: PolicePolice LegitimacyPolice StopsPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Gounev, Philip, ed. Title: Police Stops and Ethnic Profiling in Bulgaria Summary: Between June and December 2005 the Center for the Study of Democracy and Vitosha Research, supported by the Open Society Justice Initiative carried out a study of police stops. The resulting report Police Stops and Ethnic Profiling in Bulgaria examines the use of stops by the Bulgarian police, focusing on the practices of disproportionate stops of members of the Roma ethnic minority. The report also highlights issues related to police abuse during stops as well as crime among in Roma communities. The study is part of a Europe-wide initiative aimed to map discriminatory police practices across Europe. In addition to Bulgaria, research was carried out in Spain, Hungary and Russia indicating that there is disproportionate treatment of minorities by the police in all these countries. Police stops are the main point of contact between officers and citizens. Police officers view stops as essential for detecting and preventing crime. Therefore, the appropriate use of this tool is crucial to police efficiency, whereas when used in the wrong way, it could seriously deteriorate the relations between citizens and the police. Details: Sofia: Center for the Study of Democracy, 2006. 90p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://www.csd.bg/artShow.php?id=7937 Year: 2006 Country: Bulgaria URL: http://www.csd.bg/artShow.php?id=7937 Shelf Number: 107708 Keywords: Police (Bulgaria)Racial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Alexander Weiss Consulting Title: Illinois Traffic Stop Study. 2011 Annual Report Summary: This is the eighth annual report of the Illinois Traffic Stop Study. Alexander Weiss Consulting, LLC prepared it for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). This report describes statewide results and related issues. A separate document includes the results from each of the reporting law enforcement agencies. This report examines several items: Reporting procedures Agency participation Stop and citation data The ratio of stops of minority drivers to the estimated minority driving population The reasons for traffic stops The duration of traffic stops The outcome of traffic stops Consent searches Details: Springfield, IL: Illinois Department of Transportation, 2012. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2013 at: http://www.alexanderweissconsulting.com/pdf/2011%20ITSS%20Executive%20Summary.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.alexanderweissconsulting.com/pdf/2011%20ITSS%20Executive%20Summary.pdf Shelf Number: 128167 Keywords: Police Traffic Stops (Illinois, U.S.)Stop and SearchTraffic Offenses |
Author: Open Society Justice Initiative: StopWatch Title: Viewed with Suspicion: The Human Cost of Stop and Search in England and Wales Summary: Police forces across England and Wales are using stop and search more than ever. Last year alone, the police carried out over two million stops, and a million stop and searches. But at the same time, the proportion of these stops and searches that lead to an arrest has declined significantly. Data also shows that Black people are stopped at seven times the rate of White people. Asians are stopped at twice the rate of Whites. The statistics are alarming. But what do they mean? What does this “disproportionality” mean in terms of people’s lives? How does it affect relations with the police and society as a whole? The Open Society Justice Initiative conducted interviews with nine people whose lives have been directly affected by stop and search. The nine individuals come from London, Leicester, and Manchester. They are a small sample, but their stories echo those repeated day after day in the lives of ordinary people who happen to fit the stereotypes that feed ineffectual policing. For those not on the receiving end of stop and search, it is easy to dismiss the experience as a minor inconvenience, something necessary to make everyone safer. Many are in denial about the real cost of stop and search. Failure to heed the warnings in these stories risks fostering a more damaged, more divided, and more dangerous society. Details: New York: Open Society Justice Initiative; London: StopWatch, 2013. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 3, 2013 at: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/viewed-with-suspicion-human-cost-stop-and-search-in-england-and-wales-20130419.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/viewed-with-suspicion-human-cost-stop-and-search-in-england-and-wales-20130419.pdf Shelf Number: 128919 Keywords: DiscriminationPolice DiscretionRacial Profiling in Law Enforcement (U.K.)Stop and Search |
Author: Ofer, Udi Title: Stop-and-Frisk: A First Look. Six Months of Data on Stop-and-Frisk Practices in Newark Summary: This analysis is based on six months of reports, the full second half of 2013, released by the Newark Police Department under the new Transparency Policy, and focuses on the stop-and-frisk data components of the policy. The study compares Newark to its close neighbor to the east, New York City, whose stop-and-frisk practices have been the subject of much criticism and media attention. We made this comparison in order to put into perspective the six months of data reported by the Newark Police Department. While six months of stop-and-frisk data is insufficient to draw definitive conclusions about the Newark Police Department's stop-and-frisk practices, the ACLU-NJ believes that the initial concerns raised by these data are strong enough to warrant corrective actions now. This study has three primary findings on stop-and-frisk activities in Newark from July to December 2013: (1) High volume of stop-and-frisks. Newark police officers use stop-and-frisk with troubling frequency. In Newark today, police officers make 91 stops per 1,000 residents. Last year in New York City, the NYPD made 24 stops per 1,000 residents. In the final six months of 2013, the NYPD made approximately 8 stops per 1,000 residents, compared to Newark's 91 stops per 1,000 residents during the same period. (2) Black Newarkers bear the disproportionate brunt of stop-and-frisks. Although black Newarkers represent 52 percent of the city's population, they make up 75 percent of all stops. The disparities between stops of black Newarkers and white Newarkers are probably even higher than the data currently reveals given that the Newark Police Department did not report data on stops of Latino residents during the six months analyzed in this report, meaning that the number of white individuals stopped in the data is likely inflated. (3) The majority of people stopped are innocent. Twenty-five percent of people stopped by the Newark Police Department are arrested or issued a summons. In other words, three out of four people stopped in Newark, including many who face interrogation and a frisk, have been determined by the police to be innocent of any wrongdoing. While such an innocence rate is lower than in New York City, this high rate of innocence still raises significant concerns about police department overuse of its stop-and-frisk authority. The study concludes with a series of recommendations for greater compliance with the Newark Police Department's Transparency Policy and for ensuring that stop-and-frisk abuses do not take place, including by establishing permanent civilian oversight over the police department through a strong Civilian Complaint Review Board and Inspector General's Office. An Appendix is also included with additional data on stop-and-frisk activities in Newark, including by precinct, age, and sex. Details: Newark, NJ: American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, 2014. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 21, 2014 at: http://www.aclu-nj.org/files/8113/9333/6064/2014_02_25_nwksnf.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclu-nj.org/files/8113/9333/6064/2014_02_25_nwksnf.pdf Shelf Number: 132104 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice DiscretionRacial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchStop-and-Frisk |
Author: Great Britain. Home Office. Title: Police Powers of Stop and Search: Summary of Consultation Responses and Conclusions Summary: On 2 July 2013 the Home Secretary launched a consultation on the use of the powers of stop and search. These powers included the most common ones used by the police, covering offences from theft and drugs to serious violence and public disorder. The consultation aimed to gauge the views of the public, police, campaign groups and other organisations. These views were considered under the themes of: effectiveness; balancing public protection with the preservation of personal freedoms; reducing bureaucracy; and fairness. The consultation generated considerable interest and debate and attracted over 5,000 responses from a diverse demographic. It also made use of a number of different media to engage the public and encourage as many people as possible to make their views known. The Government has now analysed the responses which are summarised in this document. As a result of the analysis and on the basis of other evidence submitted to the consultation, the Government has developed a number of proposals which it will implement. In summary, these are: 1. Revise the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code of Practice A to make clear what constitutes 'reasonable grounds for suspicion' - the legal basis upon which police officers carry out the vast majority of stops. The revised code will also emphasise that where officers are not using their powers properly they will be subject to formal performance or disciplinary proceedings. 2. Commission the College of Policing to review the national training of stop and search and work with Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to develop robust training for probationers, existing officers, supervisors and police leaders. Training for frontline officers should include awareness of unconscious bias in decisions concerning the use of the powers. 3. The College of Policing will consider introducing a requirement that stop and search training should be subject to assessment and refreshed on a rolling basis. Failure to pass would mean that officers could not use the powers in the course of their duties. 4. Introduce an annual review of the use of stop and search powers which could form part of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's (HMIC) new assessments for the public on the performance of forces. 5. Introduce a voluntary Best Use of Stop and Search scheme. Forces participating in the scheme will record the outcome of searches in more detail to show the link (or the lack of a link) between the object of the search and its outcome. This will allow the police to assess how well they are targeting their use of stop and search and using 'reasonable grounds for suspicion' in accordance with law. 6. To help achieve this additional transparency while saving as much police time as possible, the Home Office will work with Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to explore the possibility of the quick and efficient recording of information on the use of stop and search via the new Emergency Services Network and promote the practice to all forces in England and Wales. 7. In order to improve public understanding of the police and feed into best practice, forces participating in the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme will introduce lay observation policies, whereby members of the local community can apply to accompany police officers on patrol. 8. Under the Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme, participating forces will introduce a stop and search complaints 'community trigger' whereby the police must explain to local community scrutiny groups how the powers are being used where there is a large volume of complaints. 9. Forces participating in the voluntary scheme will make clear to their communities that they will respect the case law in Roberts by making authorisations under Section 60 where it is necessary rather than just expedient to do so. In addition, forces participating in the scheme will raise the level of authorisation to a senior officer and that officer must reasonably believe that violence will take place rather than may, as things stand now. All forces, including those not in the scheme, must ensure that Section 60 stop and search is applied in accordance with case law and only used if necessary. 10. Under the voluntary scheme, police forces will limit the duration of an initial authorisation to 15 hours. They will also communicate with the communities involved in advance (where practicable) and afterwards, so that the public is kept informed of the purpose and success of the operation. 11. PACE Code of Practice A requires police forces to make arrangements for public scrutiny of their use of stop and search. The Home Secretary will write to all Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to tell them to adhere to the Code. If they do not do so, the Government will bring forward legislation to make this a statutory requirement. 12. Include stop and search data on police.uk. This will increase accountability and transparency and enable the general public to monitor the use of the powers. 13. Commission HMIC to review other stop powers, such as Section 163 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 - both the powers and their use - to make sure they are being used effectively and fairly. This will include an examination of the use of stop and search powers involving the removal of more than a person's outer clothing, including strip searches, to identify whether these searches are lawful, necessary and appropriate. Details: London: Home Office, 2014. 49p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 14, 2014 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307545/StopSearchConsultationResponse.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307545/StopSearchConsultationResponse.pdf Shelf Number: 132452 Keywords: DiscriminationPolice Discretion (U.K.)Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement (U.K.)Stop and Search |
Author: La Vigne, Nancy Title: Stop and Frisk: Balancing Crime Control with Community Relations Summary: The police practices of questioning, frisking, and searching citizens are well established and guided by legal precedents on the necessary preconditions required to engage in each of these acts lawfully. While stopping and questioning pedestrians is a routine police activity, frisking citizens can only be done lawfully on the basis of reasonable suspicion that the individual is armed and poses an immediate danger to the officer or the public. Searching an individual requires an even higher standard of probable cause for engagement in illegal activities. Each of these acts alone and in combination is designed to enable officers to question prospective suspects and witnesses, deter potential offenders, and apprehend active perpetrators. In recent years, however, the use of these practices has taken on new meaning due to the application of "stop and frisk" in New York City and other urban jurisdictions, particularly in communities of color. These jurisdictions have encouraged officers to stop and question pedestrians in specific high-crime areas as well as to increase the frequency of frisking these pedestrians. This more intensive use of stop and frisk has prompted questions and extensive debate about its legality and its effects on individuals and minority communities. The limited research conducted thus far indicates that while these more concentrated stop and frisk interventions have the potential to reduce crime, they may also negatively impact police-community relations and harm the legitimacy and efficacy of policing efforts. Given these findings and the heated public debate surrounding stop and frisk, today's police executives must think critically about how the acts of stopping, questioning, frisking, and searching can best be used to achieve crime-control goals in a manner that minimizes their negative effects. In the fall of 2011, the Urban Institute convened a roundtable with a wide array of police executives, practitioners, and researchers to develop a better understanding of both the challenges and opportunities surrounding the intensive use of stop and frisk (see appendix A for a list of participants). Prior to the roundtable, the attendees wrote a series of papers examining the use of this policing tactic, and at the roundtable they engaged in a wide-ranging discussion of the implications of intensive stop and frisk for public safety and police-community relations. This guide draws upon the knowledge gained during the roundtable and research in the field to describe both the legality and impacts of agency-led intensive stop and frisk strategies and to explore the ways in which individual officers, with guidance from their leadership, can employ their stop, frisk, and search activities in a manner that is lawful, responsible, and effective. To be clear, this publication is not an instructional manual on how to engage in stop and frisk, and it does not provide legal guidance on the topic; rather, its purpose is to help law enforcement officials think carefully about the ways in which these practices should be employed in the interests of promoting public safety while developing and reinforcing strong, mutually beneficial ties between police and the community. Details: Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice, 2014. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 23, 2014 at: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/413258-Stop-and-Frisk.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/413258-Stop-and-Frisk.pdf Shelf Number: 133805 Keywords: Police-Community InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsStop and Frisk (U.S.)Stop and Search |
Author: Starr, Sonja B. Title: Explaining Race Gaps in Policing: Normative and Empirical Challenges Summary: This piece explores the many kinds of quantitative claims that researchers and commentators regularly make about race and policing. Everyone agrees that there are enormous racial gaps in U.S. rates of stops, arrests, searches, and use of force. But there are dramatically conflicting claims as to why. Policing is hard to study, but the problem isn't just the data shortcomings with which the literature has long struggled. It's confusion about what questions we should be asking. Different kinds of numerical comparisons and research designs often imply sharply differing conceptions of what racial equality in policing means. These normative premises often go unstated, such that readers may easily miss these differences. The overarching objective of this Article is to highlight the connection between the normative and the empirical. I identify plausible conceptions of racial equality in policing and assess which empirical methods can best test those conceptions. The Article gives particular attention to how researchers should address two important research questions. The first is whether criminal conduct differences explain policing disparities. Empirical researchers as well as casual commentators typically purport to address this question either by comparing racial groups' shares of police interactions to their shares of crime, or by comparing two groups' ratio of police interactions to their ratio of crimes. Using examples and mathematical proofs, I show that neither of these comparison types answers the key question whether people with like criminal conduct are being treated the same way. These comparisons generally over-correct for racial differences in criminal conduct, misleadingly masking the size (or even reversing the apparent direction) of disparities in policing of people with the same conduct. Second, I examine how researchers should investigate the effects of racial discrimination - a morally important and legally central question, but one that poses serious causal inference challenges. I review several methods in the current literature, which offer useful insights but have substantial limitations, and critique the recently dominant "hit-rate" approach, which relies on faulty normative and empirical premises. Instead, I propose supplementing existing tools with a new approach: the use of "testers." Details: Unpublished Paper, 2015. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 28, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2550032 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2550032 Shelf Number: 134483 Keywords: Police Use of ForceRacial DisparitiesRacial Profiling (U.S.)Stop and Search |
Author: American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois Title: Stop and Frisk in Chicago Summary: In the past year, the nation's attention has turned to police practices because of high profile killings, including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio, and Eric Garner in New York. But concerns about policing extend beyond the use of force and into the everyday interactions of police with community members. In black and Latino communities, these everyday interactions are often a "stop and frisk." Under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), officers are allowed to stop you if the officer has reasonable suspicion that you have been, are, or are about to be engaged in criminal activity. Once you are stopped, if an officer has reasonable suspicion that you are dangerous and have a weapon, the officer can frisk you, including ordering you to put your hands on a wall or car, and running his or her hands over your body. This experience is often invasive, humiliating and disturbing. Chicago has failed to train, supervise and monitor law enforcement in minority communities for decades, resulting in a failure to ensure that officers' use of stop and frisk is lawful. This report contains troubling signs that the Chicago Police Department has a current practice of unlawfully using stop and frisk: - Although officers are required to write down the reason for stops, in nearly half of the stops we reviewed, officers either gave an unlawful reason for the stop or failed to provide enough information to justify the stop. - Stop and frisk is disproportionately concentrated in the black community. Black Chicagoans were subjected to 72% of all stops, yet constitute just 32% of the city's population. And, even in majority white police districts, minorities were stopped disproportionately to the number of minority people living in those districts. - Chicago stops a shocking number of people. Last summer, there were more than 250,000 stops that did not lead to an arrest. Comparing stops to population, Chicagoans were stopped more than four times as often as New Yorkers at the height of New York City's stop and frisk practice. In the face of a systemic abuse of this law enforcement practice, Chicago refuses to keep adequate data about its officers' stops. Officers do not identify stops that result in an arrest or ordinance violation, and they do not keep any data on when they frisk someone. This failure to record data makes it impossible for police supervisors, or the public, to identify bad practices and make policy changes to address them. The abuse of stop and frisk is a violation of individual rights, but it also poisons police and community relations. As recognized by the Department of Justice, the "experience of disproportionately being subjected to stops and arrests in violation of the Fourth Amendment shapes black residents' interactions with the [the police], to the detriment of community trust," and "makes the job of delivering police service... more dangerous and less effective." Details: Chicago: ACLU of Illinois, 2015. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 26, 2015 at: http://www.aclu-il.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ACLU_StopandFrisk_6.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclu-il.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ACLU_StopandFrisk_6.pdf Shelf Number: 135064 Keywords: Police DiscretionPolice-Community Interactions Police-Community Relations Racial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Frisk (Illinois)Stop and Search |
Author: American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois Title: Racial Disparity in Consent Searches and Dog Sniff Searches: An analysis of Illinois traffic stop data from 2013 Summary: Throughout Illinois, there is a dramatic racial disparity in police use of so-called "consent searches" and dog sniff searches during routine traffic stops. This is shown by a decade of government data about consent searches collected and published under the Illinois Traffic Stop Statistical Study Act of 2003 ("Study Act"), and the first two years of such data regarding dog sniff searches. For example, the recently published 2013 data shows that Illinois State Police ("ISP") troopers are 2 1/2 times more likely to consent search Hispanic motorists compared to white motorists, but white motorists are 2 1/2 times more likely than Hispanic motorists to be found with contraband during such ISP searches. Likewise, ISP troopers are more than twice as likely to dog sniff Hispanic motorists compared to white motorists, yet white motorists are 64% more likely than Hispanic motorists to be found with contraband during a trooper's search based on a dog alert. These disparities are a clear sign that the ISP's threshold to conduct consent searches and dog sniff searches is far lower for Hispanic motorists than for white motorists. Such racial disparate impact against black and Hispanic motorists likewise exists statewide, and in stops by the Chicago Police Department and other local and county police agencies. This ACLU of Illinois report begins with a brief discussion of the Study Act, upon which this report is based. It then presents findings of substantial and ongoing racial disparate impact in the use of consent searches and dog sniff searches during routine traffic stops. Details: Chicago: ACLU of Illinois, 2014. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 30, 2015 at: http://www.aclu-il.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ACLU-IL-report-re-ITSSSA-data-in-2013.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclu-il.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ACLU-IL-report-re-ITSSSA-data-in-2013.pdf Shelf Number: 135431 Keywords: Dog Sniff Searches (Illinois)Police DogsPolice Policies and PracticesRacial DisparitiesStop and SearchTraffic Stops |
Author: Rydberg, Jason Title: Flint DDACTS Pilot Evaluation Summary: In response to the public safety challenges posed by high levels of violent crime and local level law enforcement resource constraints, the Michigan State Police (MSP) have developed the "Secure Cities" initiative as part of its strategic plan. The Secure Cities initiative involves providing additional MSP enforcement resources to Detroit, Flint, Pontiac and Saginaw; using data-driven planning; and developing evidence-informed and evidence-based strategies for addressing high levels of violent crime. One specific strategy has been the implementation of the Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) in Flint. The Flint DDACTS initiative began enforcement activities in January 2012. The current evaluation examined the program as it operated between January 2012 and March 2014. This report presents the findings of the evaluation of the Flint DDACTS program, describing both trends in program activities and the effect of DDACTS on violent crime. Key Findings - The DDACTS strategy targeted five hotspots for violent crime in Flint, later expanded to include two additional hotspot areas. - MSP collected very detailed activity data from the Troopers involved in DDACTS. This reflected exceptional performance output measures. - A significant level of patrol resources with associated activities occurred in these hotspot areas. Indeed, over 22,000 traffic stops occurred between January 1, 2012 and March 2014 as part of the DDACTS initiative. Nearly three-quarters of the traffic stops occurred in the targeted hotspots. This equated to significant enforcement presence in the hotspot areas with over 600 traffic stops occurring each month in the hotspot areas - For every 100 traffic stops, there were nearly 95 verbal warnings, 2 citations, 14 arrests for misdemeanor and felony charges, and 17 fugitive arrests. - The heavy use of verbal warnings appears to reflect concern with maintaining positive relationships with Flint residents. - The high number of arrests per traffic stop reflects a very high level of enforcement productivity. - The initial set of analyses focused on the trend in violent crime in the DDACTS hotspot target areas. Violent crime (homicide, aggravated assaults, robberies, criminal sexual conduct, weapons offenses) declined 19 percent in the hotspot areas. The declines were observed in 14 of the 27 months of the DDACTS initiative. The remainder of the city experienced a 7 percent decline in violent crime. - Robberies declined 30 percent in the hotspot areas. The remainder of the city experienced a 2 percent decline in robberies. - Several analyses were undertaken to test rival explanations for the decline in violent crime. Specifically, "synthetic" comparison areas consisting of block groups within the city that were not subject to the DDACTS initiative were compared to the trend in violent crime in the hotspot areas. The findings indicated that the comparison areas also experienced a decline in violent crime. Details: East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan Justice Statistics Center, 2014. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2015 at: http://cj.msu.edu/assets/DDACTS-Report-Expanded_BJS_2012_BJ_CX_K036-1-2-FINAL.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://cj.msu.edu/assets/DDACTS-Report-Expanded_BJS_2012_BJ_CX_K036-1-2-FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 135656 Keywords: Crime AnalysisCrime HotspotsCrime PreventionEvidence-Based PracticesPolice PatrolStop and SearchViolent Crime |
Author: O'Neill, Megan Title: The Fife Division (Police Scotland) Stop and Search Pilot Evaluation Summary: In the context of increased attention and scrutiny regarding stop and search in Scotland, the introduction of Police Scotland's stop and search pilot, which aims to improve data recording practices, accountability and community confidence in the use of stop and search, is to be welcomed. Prior to this surprisingly little research or academic attention had been devoted to stop and search in Scotland, save some notable exceptions (see Background, Section 2 below). Police Scotland selected 'P' Division as the pilot site and the pilot was launched in Fife in July 2014, with support being provided by the National Stop and Search Unit. An independent academic evaluation was commissioned at the end of that month, with an expectation that the final report would be delivered in March 2015. Our tender was accepted in August 2014 and we began our work in September 2014, with our researcher arriving in mid-November 2014. We concluded our data collection period in February 2015. The aims of the stop and search pilot in Fife were (see Appendix 1 for a complete list): 1. Improving the data on which stop and search is based. This relates to the use of the stop and search database, crime rates statistics for various relevant offences, and the use of various intelligence analysis software packages. 2. Improving accountability. This includes compliance recording checks, monitoring of crime trends, dip sampling of public satisfaction, learning from complaints against the police, and independent reporting to scrutiny boards. 3. Improving confidence in the use of stop and search. Included here are issuing letters to parents of children stopped and searched; providing advice slips to persons stopped and searched; quality assurance by lay advisory groups; use of local community engagement groups; working with schools, colleges and universities; enhanced training of staff and media and social media exposure. The two main aims of our evaluation of the stop and search pilot in Fife Division were: 1. To assess the process of introducing and implementing the new methods for stop and search in Fife. 2. To assess 2. To assess the extent to which the desired outcomes for the stop and search pilot have been achieved. Details: Edinburgh: University of Dundee and Edinburgh Napier University, 2015. 141p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 13, 2015 at: http://www.sipr.ac.uk/downloads/Stop_and_Search_Pilot_Evaluation_Report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.sipr.ac.uk/downloads/Stop_and_Search_Pilot_Evaluation_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 136022 Keywords: Police DiscretionRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Ross, Matthew B. Title: State of Connecticut Traffic Stop Data Analysis and Findings, 2013-14 Summary: The Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act (Public Act 99-198) was first enacted in 1999 and prohibits racial profiling in the State of Connecticut. The law prohibits any law enforcement agency in the state from stopping, detaining, or searching motorists when the stop is motivated solely by considerations of the race, color, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation of that individual (Connecticut General Statutes Sections 54-1l and 54-1m). In 2012 and 2013, the Connecticut General Assembly made several changes to this law to create a system to address concerns regarding racial profiling in Connecticut. In accordance with these changes, police agencies began collecting data pertaining to all traffic stops on October 1, 2013. In 2012, the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project Advisory Board was established to advise the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) in adopting the law's standardized methods and guidelines. The Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMRP) at Central Connecticut State University was tasked to help oversee the design, evaluation, and management of the racial profiling study mandated by Public Act No. 12-74 and Public Act No. 13-75, "An Act Concerning Traffic Stop Information." The project staff worked with the state's Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) to develop a system to collect consistent and universal traffic stop information and submit it to CJIS electronically on a monthly basis. The project staff enlisted the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc. (CERC) to recommend and conduct an advanced statistical analysis of the data once the data collection system had been deemed to be operating sufficiently. The authors from CERC applied the statistical tests presented in Sections V and VI of the report. In addition, CERC developed and applied the peer group analysis presented along with the other descriptive measures in Section IV. The authors from IMRP conducted the analyses contained in Section IV of the report on the estimated driving population, resident only stops and state average. The body of the report represents collaboration between members from both organizations. The statistical evaluation of policing data in Connecticut is an important step towards developing a transparent dialogue between law enforcement and the public at large. The release of this report is evidence that Connecticut is well positioned to lead the nation in addressing the issue of racial profiling and increasing trust between the public and law enforcement. Although the analysis and findings presented in this report were conducted through a collaboration between IMRP and CERC, the ability to conduct such an analysis is primarily attributable to the efforts of state policy makers and the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project Advisory Board. The advisory board brought a variety of perspectives to the conversation and included members from Connecticut state government, state and local police, researchers, and civil rights advocacy groups. There are a total of 92 municipal police departments: 29 departments employing more than 50 officers, 50 employing between 20 and 50 officers, and 13 with fewer than 20 officers. State police are comprised of 13 distinct troops. Although there are an additional 81 jurisdictions that do not have organized police departments and are provided police services by the state police, either directly or through provision of resident troopers, these stops were categorized with their overarching state police troops. Additionally, a total of 13 special agencies have the authority to conduct traffic stops. This report presents the results from an analysis of the 620,000 traffic stops conducted by the aforementioned agencies during the 12-month study period from October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2014. Details: New Britain, CT: Central Connecticut State University, Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy, 2015. 143p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 15, 2015 at: http://s429795233.onlinehome.us/reports/ Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://s429795233.onlinehome.us/reports/ Shelf Number: 136055 Keywords: Racial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchTraffic Enforcement |
Author: Murray, Kath Title: Stop and Search in Scotland: A Post Reform Overview - Scrutiny and Accountability Summary: This report examines police stop and search practice in the first two years of Police Scotland, following the amalgamation of the eight Scottish forces under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 in April 2013. The report follows on from an earlier evaluation of stop and search published by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research which examined police practice between 2005 and 2010 (Murray, 2014). This found that by 2010, search rates in Scotland were around four times higher than in England and Wales; that seventy per cent of recorded searches were undertaken without reasonable suspicion; and that searches were disproportionately targeted towards young people in some parts of Scotland. Since its publication, the use of stop and search in Scotland has been subject to an unprecedented degree of media and political attention. Yet despite this spotlight, relatively little is known about police practice in the post-reform period. A Scrutiny Review report by the Scottish Police Authority published in May 2014 provided a snapshot of police practice in the first nine months of Police Scotland. Further cross-sectional data were provided in a review by HM Inspectorate of Policing in Scotland (HMICS, 2015b), and some statistics have been published in the media. Nonetheless, the story seems confused. On the one hand, Police Scotland Executives have pointed to a fall in searches in the post-reform period (e.g. Herald 9/4/15). On the other hand, officers have expressed concerns in relation to a disproportionate focus on stop and search, and pressure to increase the numbers of searches (HMICS, 2015a; 32, 2015b; 54). One of the objectives in this report is to untangle these different interpretations. The report examines police practice from three perspectives: national; local and comparative. At the national level, the trends seem encouraging. In the first two years of Police Scotland, the overall number of recorded searches fell by 38%. The number and proportion of non-statutory searches has fallen, and the overall trend in relation to young people is positive. In 2014/15, the number of recorded searches on sixteen year olds fell by 39% from the previous year. At the local level, the picture is mixed. The overall fall in searches was underpinned by the five ex-Strathclyde Divisions. These Divisions accounted for 83% and 81% of all recorded searches in 2013/14 and 2014/15 respectively. This means that the national picture was not necessarily representative of police practice in the remaining nine Divisions. For example, the use of non-statutory search and the proportion of searches carried out on young people varied considerably across Scotland. Taking a comparative perspective, search rates remain stubbornly high, over and above what might be expected in a small country with relatively low rates of recorded crime. Looking across the 43 forces in England/Wales and the 14 Scottish Divisions, Scottish Divisions accounted for seven of the ten highest ranking Divisions and forces, with the ex-Strathclyde Divisions taking the top five places. Search rates were also comparatively high in other parts of Scotland. For example, in 2014/15, the per capita search rate in Tayside was higher than London. The analysis shows how police practice can be viewed in different ways, each equally valid. This means that precedence should not be given to one outlook over another. Whilst the national picture appears positive, this does not necessarily reflect local policing in Scotland. Nor does the national trend reflect the fact that search rates in Scotland remained unduly high in the first two years of Police Scotland. The report suggests that stop and search rates in Scotland may be attributed to a combination of strict performance management, weak regulation, and to a lack of scrutiny and accountability prior to reform. By the same token, the recent fall in recorded searches can be linked to increasing levels of political and media scrutiny in the post-reform period. On the one hand, this engagement is both welcome and overdue. Prior to the formation of the single service the use of stop and search was not openly accounted for and remained beyond public scrutiny. On the other hand, the degree of critical attention directed towards Police Scotland has destabilized the single service at a time of huge structural change. The report concludes that one of the key challenges therefore is to make the use of stop and search formally accountable. That is, to establish robust governance processes that provide transparency, and ensure that the use of stop and search, and other key powers, are subject to rigorous scrutiny and monitoring. Details: Edinburgh: Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, 2015. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 14, 2015 at: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Stop-and-search-in-Scotland.-A-post-reform-overview-22ndJune2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Stop-and-search-in-Scotland.-A-post-reform-overview-22ndJune2015.pdf Shelf Number: 136408 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice DiscretionPolice PerformancePolice PracticeStop and Search |
Author: Fagan, Jeffrey Title: Stops and Stares: Street Stops, Surveillance and Race in the New Policing Summary: The use of proactive tactics to disrupt criminal activities, such as Terry street stops and concentrated misdemeanor arrests, are essential to the "new policing." This model applies complex metrics, strong management, and aggressive enforcement and surveillance to focus policing on high crime risk persons and places. The tactics endemic to the "new policing" gave rise in the 1990s to popular, legal, political and social science concerns about disparate treatment of minority groups in their everyday encounters with law enforcement. Empirical evidence showed that minorities were indeed stopped and arrested more frequently than similarly situated whites, even when controlling for local social and crime conditions. In this article, we examine racial disparities under a unique configuration of the street stop prong of the "new policing" - the inclusion of non-contact observations (or surveillances) in the field interrogation (or investigative stop) activity of Boston Police Department officers. We show that Boston Police officers focus significant portions of their field investigation activity in two areas: suspected and actual gang members, and the city's high crime areas. Minority neighborhoods experience higher levels of field interrogation and surveillance activity net of crime and other social factors. Relative to white suspects, Black suspects are more likely to be observed, interrogated, and frisked or searched controlling for gang membership and prior arrest history. Moreover, relative to their black counterparts, white police officers conduct high numbers of field investigations and are more likely to frisk/search subjects of all races. We distinguish between preference-based and statistical discrimination by comparing stops by officer-suspect racial pairs. If officer activity is independent of officer race, we would infer that disproportionate stops of minorities reflect statistical discrimination. We show instead that officers seem more likely to investigate and frisk or search a minority suspect if officer and suspect race differ. We locate these results in the broader tensions of racial profiling that pose recurring social and constitutional concerns in the "new policing." Details: New York: Columbia Law School, Public Law & Legal Theory Working Paper Group, 2015. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Columbia Public Law Research Paper No. 14-479 : Accessed September 5, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2650154 Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2650154 Shelf Number: 136685 Keywords: Racial DiscriminationRacial ProfilingRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchSurveillance |
Author: Scotland. Advisory Group on Stop and Search Title: The report of the Advisory Group on Stop and Search Summary: 27. Stop and search is an area of policing that requires constant scrutiny and oversight. It involves the use of police enforcement powers or practices that can affect general public attitudes to policing. If used proportionately and in a targeted manner, with positive outcomes by way of prohibited items being found, it can assist with public confidence. If not, it can undermine attitudes to the police, especially in deprived areas where the tactic has been used a great deal on children and young men. "Policing by consent" relies on the support and confidence of the public throughout the country, and is no less important in such areas where so much crime happens. 28. Stop and search is important but represents only a small part of policing. It has received considerable attention, in particular because of the excessive use of non-statutory stop and search. Non-statutory stop and search lacks any legal framework and is of questionable lawfulness and legitimacy, with poor accountability. 29. There are a number of complicated issues regarding consent in the context of policing, and specifically in the context of police search. In non-statutory stop and search, concerns have been expressed about how genuine and informed any "consent" has been, in view of the age and vulnerabilities of some of the individuals being asked to consent, especially given the perceived imbalance in power between the police and public. 30. Our key recommendations are that there should be a statutory Code of Practice, that the Code should be consulted on before implementation, that there should be early consultation on whether the police should have a power to search children under 18 for alcohol, that there should be a detailed implementation and training plan and that stop and search should end at the point that the Code of Practice comes into effect. We also make recommendations about data gathering, a legislative change to ensure the rights of the child are fully considered and we recommend that discussions take place between the relevant organisations on the most appropriate ways to deal with vulnerable children and adults. 31. We recommend that a statutory Code of Practice should be issued dealing with all aspects of stop and search by Police Scotland. The Code should be issued by the Scottish Ministers, subject to Parliamentary oversight prior to commencement. Thereafter the Code should be kept under review at regular intervals, again subject to Parliamentary oversight on revision. 32. We recommend that use of non-statutory stop and search should end when the Code of Practice is introduced. The group are not unanimous on this point. A minority of members preferred a precautionary approach that would wait, allow recent changes by Police Scotland to bed in, gather more evidence and ensure that there would be no unintended consequences to ending consensual search. I have attempted to in part address these concerns by recommending a period of transition and consultation. 33. A substantial focus of our work was on trying to identify any gaps in police powers, should consensual stop and search end. The majority in the group are satisfied that no significant gaps would exist. We found that officers have often relied on consensual search where other statutory and more appropriate ways to intervene existed. We recommend that before consensual stop and search ends there should be a detailed implementation plan that includes training for officers to make them better aware of the statutory powers that they have. 34. The main gap highlighted to us by the Police was the ability to search children under 18 for alcohol. We have not been able to form a concluded view on whether a gap in powers exists that could not be dealt with by existing powers, and also on whether a power to search children for alcohol would be desirable. We therefore recommend that there should be a public consultation that involves children and young people. The sheer scale of the activity around alcohol underlines Police Scotland"s view that this continues to be an area of concern and the inability to use search powers to remove alcohol from young people is a potential problem. We therefore recommend that this should be considered separately, subject to wider consultation, specifically involving children and young people. 35. If non-statutory stop and search is ended, officers of Police Scotland will still be able to carry out their duties effectively. Abolition will not result in any significant gaps. Specifically, officers will still be able to respond to any welfare or protection issues they encounter. Action will still be possible even when required on an emergency basis, whether carried out by police officers, social workers, medical staff or others. Details: Edinburgh: Advisory Group on Stop and Search, 2015. 134p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 24, 2015 at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0048/00484527.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0048/00484527.pdf Shelf Number: 137328 Keywords: Police AccountabilityPolice DiscretionSearch and SeizureStop and Search |
Author: McCandless, Rhydian Title: Do initiatives involving substantial increased in stop and search reduce crime? Assuming the Impact of Operation BLUNT 2 Summary: Stop and search is a well-established police power. Over the last decade use of the power has varied widely but at its peak, in the final quarter of 2008/09, a search was undertaken every 20 seconds on average nationwide. The evidence base on the effectiveness of stop and search on crime is limited. This paper examines whether a police initiative that involved a large increase in the number of stop and searches was effective at reducing crime. As part of Operation BLUNT 2 - a Metropolitan Police initiative aimed at reducing knife crime that began in the spring of 2008 - there was a marked increase in the number of weapons searches conducted in London. London boroughs were assigned to one of three tiers based on intelligence on their knife crime problem. Resources were prioritised to ten Tier 1 boroughs, and to a lesser extent to six Tier 2 boroughs. The ten Tier 1 boroughs recorded a more than threefold increase in the number of weapons searches, up from 34,154 in the year before BLUNT 2 to 123,335 in the first year of the operation. Over this period, the 16 Tier 3 boroughs also recorded an increase in weapons searches but on a smaller scale (up by 18,103, an 87% increase on pre-BLUNT 2 levels). Under normal circumstances, it is hard to interpret the relationship between changes in stop and search and crime rates. Because it is a form of responsive policing, trends in stop and search often mirror trends in crime, so it is difficult to establish whether stop and searches lead to a fall in crime, or simply reflect it. However, the scale of the increases in searches under Operation BLUNT 2 was less clearly the result of changes in short-term crime rates. This strengthens the robustness of the evaluation. The analysis focuses on crimes that might be affected by large increases in weapons searches, and compares changes in offence numbers across the three tiers. If a large increase in weapons searches is effective at reducing knife crime then a drop in offences in Tier 1 boroughs would be expected, compared with boroughs that recorded smaller increases in stop and searches. Nine measures of police recorded crime were used in the analysis. These included: different types of assault involving sharp instruments; robbery; weapons and drugs possession offences; and three types of acquisitive crime. A difference-in-difference regression analysis, which controlled for other factors that might affect crime trends, found no statistically significant crime-reducing effect from the large increase in weapons searches during the course of Operation BLUNT 2. This suggests that the greater use of weapons searches was not effective at the borough level for reducing crime. London Ambulance Service data on calls for weapons-related injuries were also analysed. Unlike recorded crime measures, these should be unaffected by police recording or victim reporting issues. The number of London Ambulance Service callouts for weapons injuries did not fall more in the Tier 1 boroughs than in the other boroughs. Rather, ambulance call-outs actually fell faster in those boroughs that had smaller increases in weapons searches. Knife homicides were examined separately, as the small numbers involved prevent meaningful difference-in-difference analysis. Both Tier 1 (high resource) and Tier 3 (low resource) boroughs saw reductions in knife homicides, so it is unlikely that the falls in Tier 1 boroughs can be attributed to the Operation BLUNT 2 increases in weapons searches. Overall, analysis shows that there was no discernible crime-reducing effects from a large surge in stop and search activity at the borough level during the operation. However, it does not necessarily follow that stop and search activity does not reduce crime. This study is based on data at the London borough level, with an average population of over 200,000 per borough. It is possible that there are localised crime-reducing effects of stop and search activity that are masked when analysing data on such a large geographic area. This might be a useful focus of future research. It is also possible that a base level of stop and search activity does have an effect after which there are diminishing, or even zero, returns. This current study has not been able to shed light on what that level would be. Details: London; Home Office, 2016. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2016 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508661/stop-search-operation-blunt-2.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508661/stop-search-operation-blunt-2.pdf Shelf Number: 138320 Keywords: Crime ReductionKnife CrimePolice EffectivenessStop and SearchWeapons |
Author: Taniguchi, Travis A. Title: A test of racial disproportionality in traffic stops conducted by the Raleigh Police Department Summary: Recent research has raised questions regarding the Raleigh Police Department's (RPD) use of race as a proxy for criminal behavior. News reports going back to 2000 make claims of racial bias based on the disparity between the racial composition of stopped motorists and the racial composition of the city (Associated Press, 2000). Critically, these kinds of analyses typically use census population estimates to establish a benchmark for the driving population. Census estimates, however, demonstrate only where people reside and serve as a poor proxy for the actual driving population. Therefore, census population cannot accurately measure the population at risk (i.e., the driving population that is likely to be involved in a traffic stop). RTI International conducted a series of analyses to address this methodological limitation. This research was funded internally by RTI to serve the community and to contribute to a growing body of scientific research on this topic. Details: Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International, 2016. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2016 at: http://www.rti.org/pubs/vod_raleigh_final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.rti.org/pubs/vod_raleigh_final.pdf Shelf Number: 138322 Keywords: Racial BiasRacial ProfilingRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchTraffic Stops |
Author: Taniguchi, Travis A. Title: Exploring racial disproportionality in traffic stops conducted by the Durham Police Department Summary: Recent research has generated questions regarding the Durham Police Department's (DPD) use of race as a proxy for criminal behavior. For example, Baumgartner and Epp's (2012) analysis of DPD traffic stop data suggested racial bias in traffic enforcement. Critically, Baumgartner and Epp used census population estimates to establish a benchmark for the driving population. Census estimates, however, demonstrate only where people reside and therefore serve as a poor proxy for the actual driving population. The DPD, in an effort to promote transparency and achieve an improved understanding of its operations and their impact on the community, provided RTI International with access to 6 years of traffic stop data. In turn, RTI proposed a series of analyses that would address the methodological limitations noted above. This research was funded internally by RTI to serve the community and to contribute to a growing body of scientific research on this topic. The study was conducted independently, and the DPD provided no financial support for the project. Details: Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International, 2016. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2016 at: http://www.rti.org/pubs/vod_durham_final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.rti.org/pubs/vod_durham_final.pdf Shelf Number: 138323 Keywords: Racial BiasRacial Profiling Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement Stop and Search Traffic Stops |
Author: Taniguchi, Travis A. Title: A test of racial disproportionality in traffic stops conducted by the Fayetteville Police Department Summary: Recent research has generated questions regarding the Fayetteville Police Department's (FPD) use of race as a proxy for criminal behavior. A recent New York Times article highlighted the racial disproportionality in traffic stops in both Greensboro and Fayetteville (LaFraniere & Lehren, 2015). Critically, these kinds of analyses typically use census population estimates to establish a benchmark for the driving population. Census estimates, however, demonstrate only where people reside and serve as a poor proxy for the actual driving population. Therefore, census population cannot accurately measure the population at risk (i.e., the driving population that is likely to be involved in a traffic stop). RTI International conducted a series of analyses to address this methodological limitation. This research was funded internally by RTI to serve the community and to contribute to a growing body of scientific research on this topic. Details: Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International, 2016. 5p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2016 at: http://www.rti.org/pubs/vod_fayetteville_final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.rti.org/pubs/vod_fayetteville_final.pdf Shelf Number: 138324 Keywords: Racial BiasRacial Profiling Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement Stop and Search Traffic Stops |
Author: Taniguchi, Travis A. Title: A test of racial disproportionality in traffic stops conducted by the Greensboro Police Department Summary: Recent research has generated questions regarding the Greensboro Police Department's (GPD) use of race as a proxy for criminal behavior. For example, a recent New York Times article highlighted the racial disproportionality in traffic stops in Greensboro (LaFraniere & Lehren, 2015). Critically, these kinds of analyses typically use census population estimates to establish a benchmark for the driving population. Census estimates, however, demonstrate only where people reside and serve as a poor proxy for the actual driving population. Therefore, census population cannot accurately measure the population at risk (i.e., the driving population that is likely to be involved in a traffic stop). RTI International conducted a series of analyses to address this methodological limitation. This research was funded internally by RTI to serve the community and to contribute to a growing body of scientific research on this topic. Details: Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International, 2016. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2016 at: http://www.rti.org/pubs/vod_greensboro_final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.rti.org/pubs/vod_greensboro_final.pdf Shelf Number: 138325 Keywords: Racial BiasRacial Profiling Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement Stop and Search Traffic Stops |
Author: Murray, Kath Title: Landscape Review on Stop and Search in Scotland Summary: This report presents a landscape review of academic and policy research and evidence on stop and search in Scotland. The report was commissioned by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) via the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. It is not an exhaustive systematic evidence review. Rather the aim is to provide an overview of the key findings and themes in the existing evidence base, and relate these to the direction of police policy and practice in Scotland. The review also aims to support the Authority's commitment to building a stronger and more holistic research picture on the wider societal impact of stop and search. Details: Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 2015. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 11, 2016 at: http://www.sipr.ac.uk/downloads/Landscape_review_stop_search_270116.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.sipr.ac.uk/downloads/Landscape_review_stop_search_270116.pdf Shelf Number: 139394 Keywords: Police Accountability Police Behavior Police Discretion Police Performance Police PracticeStop and Search |
Author: StopWatch Title: StopWatch Submission to the Consultation on Police Powers to Stop and Search Summary: The Home Office consultatio' document defines the purpose of stop and search as being to 'fight against crime'. According to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of the Constabulary (HMIC), however, most police forces have no clear approach to using stop and search powers, nor a strategy or objective for their exercise. Existing definitions of the purpose of stop and search lack the clarity and precision required to ensure appropriate regulation of police powers and evaluation of their effectiveness. The absence of circumscription heightens the risk of those powers being abused. The exercise of police powers to stop an individual in a public place, to detain them for questioning, and to search their person or their belongings, constitutes an invasion of liberty and privacy. The powers are intrusive and coercive, and the circumstances in which they are exercised are frequently embarrassing, humiliating, intimidating and frightening for the individual concerned. - Stop and search has potentially damaging effects on individuals, communities and wider society. The powers can only be justified if there is evidence that they contribute significantly to the public good and if there is no less intrusive or coercive means to achieve the same end. The evidence of effectiveness, insofar as it exists, is unconvincing and there has been insufficient effort dedicated to the development of a less costly and less invasive alternative. Stop and search powers can be abused and used arbitrarily, without proper grounds and for improper purposes. The exercise of these powers must therefore be properly supervised to ensure that they are lawful, necessary, proportionate, properly circumscribed, and subject to adequate legal safeguards against abuse. Police officers do not have a right to stop and search. They have a duty to investigate crime and contribute to community safety; to promote equality, prevent illegal discrimination; and to protect our rights and freedoms. The police are granted powers to carry out these duties. Stop and search powers require a secure base of community support. Police action must both be fair and rational, and be perceived as so being by individuals and wider society. Without community consent and legitimacy, the use of the power becomes corrosive and ineffective Details: London: Stopwatch, 2013. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 13, 2016 at: http://www.stop-watch.org/uploads/documents/StopWatch_consultation_final.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.stop-watch.org/uploads/documents/StopWatch_consultation_final.pdf Shelf Number: 139406 Keywords: Police AccountabilityPolice DiscretionPolice PracticeStop and Search |
Author: Eberhardt, Jennifer L., ed. Title: Strategies for Change: Research Initiatives and Recommendations to Improve Police-Community Relations in Oakland, Calif. Summary: In May 2014, the City of Oakland contracted with our team of Stanford social psychologists to assist the Oakland Police Department (OPD) in collecting and analyzing data on officers' self-initiated stops. Our task was to analyze the reports that OPD officers completed after every stop they initiated between April 1, 2013 and April 30, 2014. These reports are called stop data. In Strategies for Change, we summarize the findings of this stop data analysis, discuss four other research initiatives, and list 50 recommendations for improving police-community relations.Across our research programs, we indeed uncovered evidence that OPD officers treat people of different races differently. At the same time, we found little evidence that disparate treatment arose from explicit racism or purposeful discrimination. Instead, our research suggests that many subtle and unexamined cultural norms, beliefs, and practices sustain disparate treatment. Our findings also suggest 50 evidence-based actions that agencies can take to change department cultures and strengthen police-community ties. Details: Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University, SPARQ: Social Psychological Answers to Real-world Questions, 2016. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 21, 2016 at: https://stanford.app.box.com/v/Strategies-for-Change Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://stanford.app.box.com/v/Strategies-for-Change Shelf Number: 139752 Keywords: Police LegitimacyPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsStop and Search |
Author: Hetey, Rebecca C. Title: Data for Change: A Statistical Analysis of Police Stops, Searches, Handcuffings, and Arrests in Oakland, Calif., 2013-2014 Summary: Law enforcement agencies across the United States are facing claims that they discriminate against community members of color. Inquiries into these claims often involve analyzing data from police stops. These so-called stop data reports typically take one of two approaches: either attack the agency for intentional racism, or deny the presence of racial disparities altogether. Yet neither of these approaches has yielded adequate progress toward many agencies' mission of serving their communities with fairness and respect. Taking a different approach, the City of Oakland engaged our team of Stanford social psychologists to examine relations between the Oakland Police Department (OPD) and the Oakland community, and then to develop evidence-based remedies for any racial disparities we might find. Racial disparities in policing likely have many causes. To examine these causes, our team has undertaken five research initiatives. We describe our research methods, findings, and recommendations in Strategies for Change: Research Initiatives and Recommendations To Improve Police-Community Relations in Oakland, Calif. We provide a technical report of our main research initiative, a thorough analysis of OPD stop data, in Data for Change: A Statistical Analysis of Police Stops, Searches, Handcuffings, and Arrests in Oakland, Calif., 2013-2014. Across our research programs, we indeed uncovered evidence that OPD officers treat people of different races differently. At the same time, we found little evidence that these racial disparities arose from overt bias or purposeful discrimination. Instead, our research suggests that many subtle and unexamined cultural norms, beliefs, and practices sustain disparate outcomes. Our findings also suggest 50 evidence-based actions that agencies can take to change department cultures and strengthen police-community ties. Below, we highlight some of our research initiatives, findings, and recommendations for improving police-community relations in Oakland and other U.S. cities. Below, we highlight some of our research initiatives, findings, and recommendations for improving police-community relations in Oakland and other parts of the U.S. The 5 Research Initiatives - Statistical analyses of stop data from 28,119 forms that 510 OPD officers filed after stopping drivers and pedestrians in Oakland, Calif., between April 1, 2013 and April 30, 2014 (for a summary, see Chapter 1 of Strategies for Change; for the technical report, see Data for Change); - Development of computational tools to analyze linguistic data from body-worn cameras (BWCs) and, using these tools, analyses of some 157,000 words spoken by OPD officers during 380 stops in April of 2014 (see Chapter 2 of Strategies for Change); - Development of computational tools to analyze written narratives from police stop data forms, and, using these tools as well as human experts, analyses of some 1,000 OPD officer narratives from April of 2014 (see Chapter 3 of Strategies for Change); - Two surveys of 416 Oakland community members regarding their attitudes toward and experiences with OPD officers (see Chapter 4 of Strategies for Change); - Development and evaluation of implicit bias and procedural justice training modules with 675 OPD officers (see Chapter 5 of Strategies for Change). Key Findings - OPD officers stopped, searched, handcuffed, and arrested more African Americans than Whites, a finding that remained significant even after we controlled for neighborhood crime rates and demographics; officer race, gender, and experience; and other factors that shape police actions; - Some 60% of OPD stops were of African Americans, who make up 28% of Oakland's population; - Of OPD officers making at least one stop during the 13-month period of study: - Only 20% stopped a White person, while 96% stopped an African American person; - Only 26% handcuffed a White person, while 72% handcuffed an African American person (excluding arrests); - Only 23% conducted a discretionary search of a White person, while 65% conducted a discretionary search of an African American person; - When OPD officers could identify the community member's race before a stop, they were much more likely to stop an African American, as compared to when officers could not identify the community member's race; - With African Americans, OPD officers used more severe legal language (e.g., mentioned probation, parole, and arrest) and offered fewer explanations for the stop than with Whites; - In police-initiated interactions, African American and Hispanic Oakland residents felt more disrespected and misunderstood than did White and Asian Oakland residents. Select Recommendations - Our findings suggest the OPD has a culture where officers stop, search, handcuff, and arrest more African Americans than Whites. We suspect many other law enforcement agencies have similar cultures. In Strategies for Change, we thus recommend the OPD and other agencies regularly review their policies, practices, and procedures for evidence of disparate outcomes. - As our findings reveal that less-experienced officers show more racial disparities in their stops, better training of new officers could likely reduce the degree of these disparities. To this end, Strategies for Change presents several recommendations for how to improve officer training. - Although the OPD collects copious amounts of data, few measures track the OPD's relationship with the community. In Strategies for Change, we thus recommend several actions that the OPD and other law enforcement agencies can take to measure what matters most. - More broadly, we observe that many law enforcement agencies do not fully embrace data because they view it as evidence that could be used against them, rather than as feedback about what is or is not working, and why. In Strategies for Change, we recommend more than a dozen actions that the OPD and other law enforcement agencies can take to better leverage data. Details: Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University, SPARQ: Social Psychological Answers to Real-world Questions, 2016. 298p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 21, 2016 at: https://sparq.stanford.edu/data-for-change Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://sparq.stanford.edu/data-for-change Shelf Number: 139753 Keywords: Police LegitimacyPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: San Francisco. Blue Ribbon Panel on Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Law Enforcement Title: Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Law Enforcement Summary: The Blue Ribbon Panel on Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Law Enforcement (the Panel) was established as an advisory body to the San Francisco District Attorney in May 2015 in the wake of revelations that 14 San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) officers had exchanged numerous racist and homophobic text messages. The text messages-milder examples of which included statements such as "Cross burning lowers blood pressure! I did the test myself!" and "I still hate black people" - expressed blatant hostility toward and mocked people of color - including SFPD officers - and insulted lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The Panel was tasked with answering the critical and obvious question that the text-messaging scandal raised and - to the Panel's knowledge - no other city agency had investigated: Was the racial and homophobic bias so clearly demonstrated by the offensive texts a reflection of institutionalized bias within the SFPD and, if so, to what extent? Over a one-year period, the Panel examined a number of different aspects of the SFPD to try to develop a comprehensive understanding of the issue, interviewing more than 100 witnesses and reviewing thousands of public documents. The result is this report. Its findings and recommendations strive to give credit where credit is due, but point to several unmistakable conclusions: the SFPD is in need of greater transparency; lacks robust oversight; must rebuild trust with the communities it serves; and should pay greater attention to issues of bias against people of color, both officers and members of the public. In short, the Panel concludes that the SFPD is in urgent need of important reforms. Details: San Francisco: The Panel, 2016. 249p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 21, 2016 at: http://sfdistrictattorney.org/sites/default/files/Document/BRP_report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://sfdistrictattorney.org/sites/default/files/Document/BRP_report.pdf Shelf Number: 139754 Keywords: Police AccountabilityPolice LegitimacyPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsRacial Profiling in law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Fagan, Jeffrey Title: An Analysis of Race and Ethnicity Patterns in Boston Police Department Field Interrogation, Observation, Frisk, and/or Search Reports Summary: The research findings presented in this report represent an independent inquiry into possible racial disparities in Boston Police Department Field Interrogation, Observation, Frisk, and/or Search practices (informally known as FIO reports). This inquiry was conducted at the request of the Boston Police Department and the American Civilian Liberties Union of Massachusetts and spans the years 2007-10. This report summarizes the methods and research findings of the independent research enterprise. Key research findings include: - The yearly number of FIO reports made by the BPD has steadily decreased in recent years. Between 2008 and 2013, the number of FIO reports made by the BPD decreased by almost 42% (from 55,684 to 32,463). This study focused on N=204,739 FIOs made by BPD officers between 2007 and 2010. - Controlling for a variety of factors including race of residents, the logged number of crimes in Boston neighborhoods was the strongest predictor of the amount of FIO activity in Boston neighborhoods. However, the analyses revealed that the percentage of Black and Hispanic residents in Boston neighborhoods were also significant predictors of increased FIO activity after controlling for crime and other social factors. These racial disparities generate increased numbers of FIO reports in minority neighborhoods above the rate that would be predicted by crime alone. For instance, a neighborhood with 85 percent Black residents would experience approximately 53 additional FIO reports per month compared to an "average" Boston neighborhood. - FIO activity was concentrated on repeated interactions with a relatively small number of people. Roughly 5 percent of the N=72,619 unique individuals subjected to FIO encounters accounted for more than 40 percent of the total number of FIO reports made during the study time period. 67.5 percent of the FIO subjects only experienced one FIO and, as a group, accounted for 24.6 percent of the total number of FIO reports made by BPD officers during the study time period. - Gang membership and prior arrest histories were significant predictors of (a) repeated FIO reports of the same subject and (b) whether subjects were frisked / searched during an FIO encounter. These effects were present after controlling for age, sex, and race. In addition, Black subjects experienced 8 percent higher numbers of repeat FIOs and were roughly 12 percent more likely to be frisked / searched during an FIO encounter, controlling for prior criminal history, gang membership, and other factors. - FIO reports were also concentrated among a small number of very active BPD officers. Roughly 4 percent of N=2,349 BPD officers made over 43 percent of the FIOs during the study time period. Youth Violence Strike Force officers (informally known as the "gang unit") were associated with the highest numbers of FIO reports. During the study period, nearly 26 percent of BPD officers did not file a single FIO report. These officers were primarily assigned to administrative positions or were on leave for significant portions of the study time period. - White BPD officers made significantly higher numbers of FIO reports during the study time period relative to Black and Asian officers. White BPD officers also were more likely to frisk / search subjects during FIO encounters relative to minority officers. However, white officers did not seem to discriminate by subject race and ethnicity. Also, White officers made elevated numbers of FIO reports and were more likely to frisk and search during FIO encounters for subjects of all races and ethnicities. However, within suspect race categories, Black officers were less likely to FIO or frisk White or Black suspects than were White officers. - These analyses revealed racially disparate treatment of minority persons in BPD FIO activity. However, we cannot determine whether the identified patterns were generated by bias or other sources of racial discrimination in BPD FIO practices. Further research is necessary to understand the factors and processes that influence the observed disparities. Details: Boston: Boston Police Department, 2015. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 21, 2016 at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2158964/full-boston-police-analysis-on-race-and-ethnicity.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2158964/full-boston-police-analysis-on-race-and-ethnicity.pdf Shelf Number: 139758 Keywords: Police LegitimacyRacial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Seguino, Stephanie Title: Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Traffic Stops: Analysis of Vermont State Police Data, 2010-11 Summary: Concerns about racial profiling and racial disparities in policing have drawn the attention of Vermonters in recent years, particularly as the state has become more racially and ethnically diverse. A number of jurisdictions in Vermont have voluntarily2 moved to collect race data in traffic stops, including the Vermont State Police (VSP). This paper reports the results of an analysis of the VSP's first year of race data on traffic stops, arrests, and searches for the period July 2010 through June 2011. The results are compared to those reported in McDevitt and Posick (2011). The main innovation of this study is that it examines racial differences in outcomes for each minority group relative to Whites, while the previous study combined all minorities into one group for comparison to White drivers. As a result the analyses and conclusions drawn differ, with this study finding much more robust evidence of racial disparities in policing, particularly for Blacks and Hispanics. Details: Unpublished report, 2014. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 21, 2016 at: https://acluvt.org/issues/profiling/vsp_rpt_re-exam.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://acluvt.org/issues/profiling/vsp_rpt_re-exam.pdf Shelf Number: 139783 Keywords: Racial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Bradford, Ben Title: Enabling and Constraining Police Power: On the Moral Regulation of Policing Summary: In this paper we consider some of the ethical challenges inherent in the regulation of discretionary police power. Discretion is central to police policy and practice, but it also provides a level of freedom that opens up the space for injustice and inequity, and this is seen most vividly in recent debates about unfairness and racial profiling in the distribution and experience of police stops in the US and UK. How to regulate discretionary power is a challenging question, and this is especially so in the context of practices like stop-and-search/stop-and-frisk. The ability to stop people in the street and question them is central to policing as it is understood in many liberal democracies, but under conditions of unfairness and questionable efficacy - when the application of this particular police power appears unethical as well as ineffective - one can reasonably ask whether the power should be dropped or curtailed, and if curtailed, how this would work in practice. Details: London: London School of Economics, 2015. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: LSE Law, Society and Economy Working Papers 23/2015: Accessed July 25, 2016 at: https://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/law/wps/WPS2015-23_BradfordJackson.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: https://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/law/wps/WPS2015-23_BradfordJackson.pdf Shelf Number: 139848 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice DiscretionPolice EthicsRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Fratello, Jennifer Title: Coming of Age with Stop and Frisk: Experiences, Perceptions, and Public Safety Implications Summary: Amid the debate about stop and frisk in New York City, its relationship to reductions in crime, and concerns about racial profiling, one question has gone largely unexplored: How does being stopped by police, and the frequency of those stops, affect those who experience them at a young age? In New York City, at least half of all recorded stops annually involve those between the ages of 13 and 25. This new study from Vera's Center on Youth Justice examines this question. The results reveal a great deal about the experiences and perceptions of young New Yorkers who are most likely to be stopped. Trust in law enforcement among these young people is alarmingly low. This has significant public safety implications as young people who have been stopped more often are less willing to report crimes, even when they themselves are the victims. The report includes a set of recommendations aimed at restoring trust and improving police-community relations. It also features an infographic summarizing the findings. Details: New York: Vera Institute of Justice, Center on Youth Justice, 2013. 139p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed August 5, 2016 at: http://archive.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/stop-and-frisk_technical-report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://archive.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/stop-and-frisk_technical-report.pdf Shelf Number: 130029 Keywords: Racial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and FriskStop and Search |
Author: Morrow, Weston Title: Examining the Potential for Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Use of Force During NYPD Stop and Frisk Activities Summary: Since the 1990s, stop and frisk activities have been a cornerstone of the New York Police Department (NYPD). The manner in which the NYPD has carried out stop, question, and frisks (SQFs), however, has been a focal point of discussion, resulting in public outrage and two major lawsuits. Recently, the Federal District Court Judge ruled that the NYPD was engaging in unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices that targeted predominately Black and Latino New Yorkers. Questions surrounding the NYPD's SQF practices have almost exclusively focused on racial and ethnic disproportionality in the rate of stops without necessarily considering what transpired during the stop. This study will fill that void by examining the prevalence and nature of use of force during those stops, along with testing the minority threat hypothesis. By combining micro-level measures from the NYPD's 2012 "Stop, Question, and Frisk" database with macro-level variables collected from the United States Census Bureau, the current study examines police use of force in the context of SQF activities. The results should help judges, policy makers, police officers, and scholars understand the nature of police use of force in the context of SQFs. Details: Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University, 2015. 203p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed August 26, 2016 at: https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/157948/content/Morrow_asu_0010E_15162.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/157948/content/Morrow_asu_0010E_15162.pdf Shelf Number: 140046 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice DiscretionPolice Use of ForceRacial DiscriminationRacial Profiling in Law Enforcement Stop and FriskStop and Search |
Author: Simoiu, Camelia Title: Testing for Racial Discrimination in Police Searches of Motor Vehicles Summary: In the course of conducting traffic stops, officers have discretion to search motorists for drugs, weapons, and other contraband. There is concern that these search decisions are prone to racial bias, but it has proven difficult to rigorously assess claims of discrimination. Here we develop a new statistical method-the threshold test-to test for racial discrimination in motor vehicle searches. We use geographic variation in stop outcomes to infer the e↵ective race-specific standards of evidence that officers apply when deciding whom to search, an approach we formalize with a hierarchical Bayesian latent variable model. This technique mitigates the problems of omitted variables and infra-marginality associated with benchmark and outcome tests for discrimination. On a dataset of 4.5 million police stops in North Carolina, we find that the standard for searching black and Hispanic drivers is considerably lower than the standard for searching white and Asian drivers, a pattern that holds consistently across the 100 largest police departments in the state. Details: Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 2016. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 30, 2016 at: https://5harad.com/papers/threshold-test.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://5harad.com/papers/threshold-test.pdf Shelf Number: 140099 Keywords: Racial BiasRacial ProfilingRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchTraffic Stops |
Author: Murray, Kath Title: Understanding and Preventing Youth Crime Survey (UPYC) Early Findings: Stop and Search in Glasgow and Edinburgh Summary: This report presents data and analysis on children's experiences of stop and search in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The analysis in the report is based on data from the Understanding and Preventing Youth Crime (UPYC) survey, a UK wide project that examines children's experiences of crime, victimisation and policing. The report was commissioned by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in order to meet Recommendation 11 of the SPA Scrutiny Review on Stop and Search: The SPA should commission research, in conjunction with others, to establish the short and long term impact of stop and search on different groups and communities. In particular, this should cover the short and long term impact of stop and search activity on young people. (SPA, 2014; 26) The UPYC questionnaire was administered to 2,186 secondary school children in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Birmingham between September 2014 and December 2015. In Glasgow and Edinburgh, 1,286 pupils aged between twelve and sixteen years old took part in the survey, while in Sheffield and Birmingham, 900 children took part. This report focuses on children's experiences in Glasgow and Edinburgh (some comparisons are drawn with Sheffield and Birmingham). The report examines the overall and varying prevalence of stop and search, police effectiveness, and how children feel about being stopped and searched. The key findings are shown below. The overall and varying prevalence of stop and search - Overall, nearly a quarter of children in Glasgow and Edinburgh (23%) said that they had been stopped and searched at least once in their lifetime. - The overall prevalence of stop and search in Glasgow and Edinburgh (23%) was around three times higher than Sheffield and Birmingham (8%). - Across the four cities, prevalence ranged from 5% in Birmingham, to 26% in Glasgow. - Children in Glasgow were more likely to have been searched on multiple occasions, compared to children in Edinburgh. Amongst those children who were searched in the last 12 months, over a fifth (21%) in Glasgow had been searched on six or more occasions, compared to 2% in Edinburgh. School year/age (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - One of the strongest predictors of being stopped and searched was school year. In Glasgow and Edinburgh, 37% of children in S4 (15 and 16 year olds) had been stopped and searched on at least one occasion, compared to 11% in Birmingham and Sheffield. Gender (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - The prevalence of stop and search was slightly higher among boys than girls, at 26% and 21% respectively. - However, boys were more likely to be searched on multiple occasions. Amongst those who had been searched in the last twelve months, 20% of boys had been stopped and searched six times or more, compared to 11% of girls. - When controlling for other factors, multivariate analysis showed that boys were around 1.6 times more likely to be stopped and searched than girls. Ethnicity (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - Asian children were less likely to be stopped and searched, compared to White children. Otherwise, there were no statistically significant differences across the ethnic groups in the survey. Education and social class (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - Children who said that they did badly at school were more likely to have been searched, compared to those who said that they performed well at school. Over half (53%) of those who said that their achievement was poor or well below average had been stopped and searched, compared to 13% who said that their achievement was well above average or excellent. - When controlling for other factors, children who attended state schools were 2.6 times more likely to have been searched, compared to children who attended independent schools. However, self-reported offending rates between these two groups did not vary. Family support and involvement (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - The prevalence of stop and search was lower amongst children with higher levels of family support and involvement. Children whose parents rarely knew their whereabouts, what they were doing, or whom they were with were more likely to have been stopped and searched by the police. For example, 73% of children who said that their parents/carers seldom or never knew where they were had been searched, compared to 18% who said that their parents/carers often or almost always knew where they were. Offending behaviour (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - Half of the children (50%) in the survey said they had never taken part in a crime, rising to three quarters (75%) when excluding illegally downloading music or films from the internet. Excluding illegal downloads, 9% of children said they had committed an offence on two or more occasions in the last year. - When controlling for other factors, children who had been involved in a group fight in the last twelve months were 4.6 times more likely to have been stopped and searched, compared to children who had not. - However, other types of offending, including weapon carrying and drug misuse, were not significantly associated with being stopped and searched. - The likelihood of being searched was higher amongst children who said that they had committed an offence in the last 12 months, compared to those who had not. - However, in absolute terms, the number of children who were searched and said they had not committed a crime was higher than the number who had been searched and had committed a crime. Alcohol (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - Children who had drunk alcohol in the last month were 2.5 times more likely to have been stopped and searched, compared to those who had not. - The demographics of stop and search appeared to be out of kilter with the demographics of stop and search. In general, the prevalence of underage drinking (in the last month) was higher in Edinburgh (compared to Glasgow), amongst girls (compared to boys) and amongst children who attended independent schools (compared to mainstream state schools). Note however, that we do not know whether alcohol was consumed at home, or in public, or how the alcohol was accessed. Victimisation (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - Children who said that someone had taken, or tried to take something from them either by force or the threat of force (i.e. robbery) were 2.8 times more likely to have been searched, compared to those who had not. - Children who said that either they or a friend had been physically attacked on the way home from school on more than one occasion were 6 times more likely to have been searched, compared to those who had not. The effectiveness of stop and search (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - Overall, 13% of stop and search encounters in the last twelve months resulted in detection. This finding is consistent with Police Scotland data, which shows that between June and December 2015, 14% of stop searches involving 12 to 16 year olds resulted in detection. By contrast, Police Scotland data show that 24% of all stop searches carried out on persons of all ages in the same period were positive. - The prevalence of stop and search was higher in neighbourhoods with higher perceived levels of crime and disorder, suggesting that officers generally targeted the 'right places'. - However, at the individual level, involvement in criminal behaviour was a poor indicator for stop and search. Of those children who had been stopped and searched, 61% said that they had not been involved in offending behaviour in the last 12 months (excluding illegal downloading). How children feel about being stopped and searched (Glasgow and Edinburgh) - Children who had been stopped and searched tended to be equivocal or negative about their experiences. A third (34%) said that the officers were 'not at all' fair, compared to 14% who said that the officers were 'very fair.' - A third (35%) said the officers were 'a bit' professional, compared to around a fifth (18%) who said that the officers were 'very' polite and respectful. - Nearly a third of children in Glasgow (32%) said that the police were 'not at all' polite and respectful, compared to 18% in Edinburgh. - Half of those respondents who were searched said that the officers had explained the reason. Of these children, three quarters (75%) said that they understood the reason. - Four in ten (39%) said the officers had asked if they were happy for the search to go ahead. Most of these children (79%) gave their agreement to be searched. - Children mostly felt annoyed at being searched, rather than scared or embarrassed. A third of children (35%) said that they felt 'very' annoyed, and a quarter (25%) said they felt 'quite' annoyed. - Very few children (7%) said that being stopped and searched made them feel 'very' safe on the streets, while 70% said it did not make them feel at all safer. - The views of children who had been stopped and searched at least once tended to be more negative towards the police, compared to those who had not been searched. For example, more than a third (37%) of children who had been searched said they thought the police 'almost never' treated young people with respect, compared to 15% who had not been searched. - A third (34%) of children who had been stopped and searched thought that the police 'almost never' made fair decisions when dealing with young people, compared to 14% who had not been searched. - Over half (53%) of children who had been stopped and searched thought that the police appreciate what young people think, compared to 32% who had not been searched. Details: Glasgow: Scottish Police Authority, 2016. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 20, 2016 at: http://www.spa.police.uk/assets/128635/352708/uypcstopandsearch Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.spa.police.uk/assets/128635/352708/uypcstopandsearch Shelf Number: 140368 Keywords: Delinquency PreventionJuvenile OffendersPolice Behavior Police Discretion Police Practice Stop and Search |
Author: Hug, Aziz Z. Title: The Consequences of Disparate Policing: Evaluating Stop-And Frisk as a Modality of Urban Policing Summary: Beginning in the 1990s, police departments in major American cities started aggressively deploying pedestrian stops and frisks in response to escalating violent crime rates. Today, high-volume use of "stop, question and frisk," or "SQF," is an acute point of friction between urban police and minority residents. In numerous cities, recent consent decrees or settlements have imposed Fourth Amendment and Equal Protections constraints on police. But do these constitutional rules adequately respond to the harms of SQF? This Article argues that the core moral objection to SQF does not track the Constitution's focus upon the evidentiary sufficiency of stops or the racial animus of individual officers. I develop instead a new account of the distinctive wrong of aggressive street policing that is not contingent on individual animus or fault. This alternative account turns on the manner in which such policing can reproduce social and racial stratification. To substantiate this, I present a detailed analysis of the costs and benefits of SQF, with careful attention to its ecological spillovers and dynamic, intergenerational effects. Having explained why constitutional law, given its narrow transactional frame, is disarmed from an effective response, I present the alternative lens that is constitutionally and legally available for diagnosing harmful forms of urban street policing. This draws from the disparate impact framework of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and certain states' laws. While an imprecise fit, disparate impact is legally feasible and readily available. To show that it is workable, I sketch three lines of econometric analysis capable of identifying an especially troubling subclass of racial disparate impacts in urban street policing. Details: Chicago: University of Chicago Law School, 2016. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: U of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper : Accessed October 8, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2845540 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2845540 Shelf Number: 145104 Keywords: Racial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in PolicingStop and FriskStop and Search |
Author: Goff, Phillip Atiba Title: The Science of Policing Equity: Measuring Fairness in the Austin Police Department Summary: This report represents a partnership between Urban and the Center for Policing Equity's National Justice Database, in collaboration with the White House's Police Data Initiative. The report analyzes publicly available data in 2015 vehicle stops and 2014 use of force incidents on the part of the Austin Police Department. Findings indicate that even when controlling for neighborhood levels of crime, education, home-ownership, income, youth, and unemployment, racial disparities still exist in both use and severity of force. We also document that APD has a high level of transparency, and the analysis demonstrates the value of that democratization of police department data in examining whether community-level explanations are sufficient to explain observed racial disparities. Details: Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2016. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 8, 2016 at: http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/85096/the-science-of-policing-equity_2.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/85096/the-science-of-policing-equity_2.pdf Shelf Number: 141035 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice EffectivenessPolice IntegrityPolice LegitimacyRacial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Baumgartner, Frank R. Title: Racial Disparities in Traffic Stop Outcomes Summary: In American politics, the issue of racial disparity is never far from the surface, in particular as it relates to encounters with the police. We are currently in a period when – thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement – the behavior of police officers toward minorities is receiving intense scrutiny. As usual, Americans are deeply divided on the issue: where one side perceives injustice and violence toward black bodies, the other focuses on the difficulties of law enforcement and the need to respect those in blue. Our current focus on race and justice is all too familiar, but this most recent surge in attention to these issues offers perhaps a special promise of progress because our abilities to document citizen interactions with police have never been better. First, almost everyone today has a video camera on their cell phone, allowing them to film their interactions with police officers. It is much harder to dismiss a victim's claims of police misconduct when footage of the incident is posted on Facebook for the world to see. Second, increasing numbers of police departments are mandating the use of dash cameras and body cameras for police cars and police officers. Third, we now have access to extensive databases of police traffic stops that record the demographic information of stopped motorists alongside information about what transpired during the stop. Efforts to collect this type of data were put in place during the last wave of attention toward "driving while black" disparities in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Figure 1 shows the surge of attention as well as its later decline. During the time when attention to the concept of "driving while black" or "driving while brown" surged, a number of states passed laws for the first time mandating the collection of data on routine traffic stops. They sought to document any racial disparities that were alleged to be occurring so that the phenomenon could be either dismissed, if the data revealed there was no such thing, or better understood so that solutions could be implemented if the data showed that allegations were indeed accurate. The figure shows that attention has declined, but a new wave of attention to police violence, based on shootings of unarmed black men has of course kept police-minority relations in the headlines. One major difference between the 1990s and today was mentioned above: video confirmation. Another is data, which is our focus here. Details: Chapel Hill, NC: Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2017. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 2, 2017 at: https://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/articles/BaumgartnerEtAl-2017-DukeForum-RacialDisparitiesInTrafficStops.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/articles/BaumgartnerEtAl-2017-DukeForum-RacialDisparitiesInTrafficStops.pdf Shelf Number: 141302 Keywords: Body-Worn CamerasRacial DisparitiesRacial ProfilingRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchTraffic Stops |
Author: Gideon's Army Title: Driving While Black: A report on racial profiling in Metro Nashville Police Department Traffic Stops Summary: Our report shows that "driving while black" constitutes a unique series of risks, vulnerabilities, and dangers at the hands of the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) that white drivers do not experience in the same way. Upon reviewing MNPD’s traffic stop database, our report finds that: • Between 2011-2015, MNPD conducted 7.7 times more traffic stops annually than the U.S. national average • Between 2011-2015, MNPD made more stops of black people than there were black people 16 years old and over living in Davidson County • Between 2011-2015, MNPD consistently and unnecessarily stopped and searched black drivers in predominantly black, Hispanic, and low-income communities at rates substantially higher than they did white drivers in predominantly middle to upper income communities • MNPD consent searches are invasive and fail to yield incriminating evidence 88.4% of the time. • Evidence of unlawful activity is found during searches of white drivers more often than in searches of black and Hispanic drivers • Nearly 80% of all MNPD traffic stops in 2015 result in a warning, and, in traffic stops including a search of the vehicle or driver, between one-third and half result in a warning, which means hundreds of thousands of drivers are being stopped and searched unnecessarily every year • Since 2012, Operation Safer Streets (OSS) has resulted in more than 58,000 vehicle stops and 11,000 arrests, the vast majority of which were concentrated in communities of color. More than 90% of OSS arrests were for misdemeanors, often for possession of small amounts of marijuana or driving without a license, and more than 80% of stops yielded no evidence that warranted arrest. Our interviews with black drivers in Nashville show that: • Metro police officers regularly intimidate, harass, and unfairly exert their authority over black drivers • Aggressive tactics by officers result in traumatizing experiences of fear for one’s safety and the safety of one’s family and friends • Black drivers experience anger at being treated unjustly and disrespectfully, frustration derived from being profiled because of one's race and its assumed correspondence to criminality, and the feeling that police do not "serve and protect" black people like they do white people Through these findings, our report shows that MNPD's traffic stop practices impose a severe disparate or discriminatory impact on the predominantly black and low-income communities that MNPD’s traffic stop and search regime disproportionately targets. MNPD's internal reports justify these disparities based on an alleged correlation between where stops are made and the number of crime reports in the area. However, our findings show that traffic enforcement targets and impacts entire communities, not just people who commit crimes, and that regardless of the area, black people are searched at much higher rates than white people. For these reasons, racial disparities in policing are unlikely to be caused by individual officers’ behaviors alone, but by institutional norms and policies that justify targeting predominantly black and low-income communities. The MNPD traffic stop lesson plan used as part of officer training shows that the department is primarily focused on using traffic stops as a way to gain entry into vehicles and search them (See Section II). In practice, this means making pretextual traffic stops for technicalities, such as rolling through a stop sign or having a broken taillight, in order to get an opportunity to make contact with the occupants, use manipulative forms of engagement to gain consent to search, and search drivers and their vehicles. While the lesson plan does not explicitly prioritize stops and searches of black drivers, MNPD disproportionately deploys its patrol officers to predominantly black and low-income communities, and as our report shows, black drivers are more likely than white drivers to be stopped, stopped multiple times in a year, and searched during a traffic stop, even though searches of black drivers are less successful in yielding criminal evidence than are searches of white drivers. MNPD's overwhelmingly unsuccessful and disparately impactful over-policing of predominantly black and low-income communities raises serious concerns about the effectiveness, legitimacy, and constitutionality of MNPD's traffic stop and search regime. Furthermore, the fact that Nashville's unnecessarily high rate of total traffic stops does not reduce traffic accidents and injuries (Finding 1) and does not appear to make any significant impact on crime rates compared to other cities making fewer stops (Demand 1) calls MNPD's policing strategies into question both legally and ethically. The core findings of our report analyze traffic stops of black, white, and Hispanic drivers. Details: Nashville, TN: Gideon's Army, 2016. 213p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2017 at: https://drivingwhileblacknashville.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/driving-while-black-gideons-army.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://drivingwhileblacknashville.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/driving-while-black-gideons-army.pdf Shelf Number: 144558 Keywords: Driving While BlackRacial DisparitiesRacial ProfilingRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchTraffic StopsTraffic Violations |
Author: Tyler, Tom R. Title: Street Stops and Police Legitimacy: Teachable Moments in Young Urban Men's Legal Socialization Summary: Legal scholars recognize the centrality of the issue of legal culture (i.e., the "network of values and attitudes relating to law") (Friedman 1975:34) to the functioning of legal authorities. In particular, they have been concerned about how Americans acquire views about the legitimacy of law and legal authority (Sarat 1977). People do so through a process that includes childhood socialization (Tapp & Levine 1977) and later personal and peer experiences with legal authorities. In particular, the period of adolescence and young adulthood is often viewed as key since young men have their most frequent experiences with legal authorities, as do their peers, during this period (Brunson & Weitzer 2011; Fagan & Tyler 2005). The most frequent legal authority young people encounter is a police officer (Tyler & Huo 2002). The goal of this study is to explore the impact on legitimacy of a particularly salient type of young adult experience with the police-the car or street stop-during a particularly central developmental period-young adulthood. Details: Unpublished paper, 2014. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Faculty Scholarship Series. 4988: Accessed April 13, 2017 at: http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5987&context=fss_papers Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5987&context=fss_papers Shelf Number: 144897 Keywords: Police AccountabilityPolice LegitimacyStop and Search |
Author: Goel, Sharad Title: Combatting Police Discrimination in the Age of Big Data Summary: The exponential growth of available information about routine police activities offers new opportunities to improve the fairness and effectiveness of police practices. We illustrate the point by showing how a particular kind of calculation made possible by modern, large-scale datasets - determining the likelihood that stopping and frisking a particular pedestrian will result in the discovery of contraband or other evidence of criminal activity - could be used to reduce the racially disparate impact of pedestrian searches and to increase their effectiveness. For tools of this kind to achieve their full potential in improving policing, though, the legal system will need to adapt. One important change would be to understand police tactics such as investigatory stops of pedestrians or motorists as programs, not as isolated occurrences. Beyond that, the judiciary will need to grow more comfortable with statistical proof of discriminatory policing, and the police will need to be more receptive to the assistance that algorithms can provide in reducing bias. Details: Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University, 2017. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 2787101: Accessed June 26, 2017 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2787101 Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2787101 Shelf Number: 146381 Keywords: Racial BiasRacial DiscriminationRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and FriskStop and Search |
Author: Miller, Joel Title: College of Policing stop and search training experiment: Impact evaluation. Final report Summary: This report presents results from a randomised controlled trial of a pilot stop and search training programme. The training was designed to promote the non-discriminatory use of police stop and search powers, strengthen officers' knowledge and skills in applying reasonable suspicion, improve the treatment of members of the public and improve outcomes from encounters. It was led by the College of Policing (the College) in collaboration with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The pilot was carried out in six police forces within England and Wales. A total of 1,323 uniformed officers were included in the study. They were selected because they were regular users of stop and search powers. They were then randomly assigned to a treatment group that was targeted for the pilot training (87 per cent ultimately received training) or a control group that was not intended to receive the training (0.8 per cent received training). Here, we present the findings from an impact evaluation of the pilot based on three sources of data. These are: - Wave 1 survey, carried out a few days or weeks from the end of officers' pilot training - Wave 2 survey, initiated between about three and five months following the end of officers' training - data generated from police search records, drawing from the three calendar months prior to the beginning of training and the three calendar months following the completion of the bulk of training in each force. Analysis of the survey results tested hypotheses concerning the training's effects on officers' knowledge, attitudes and anticipated behaviours, while actual behaviours were measured through police stop and search records. Key findings, focused primarily on programme-level effects across the six forces, are presented below - Impacts on officers' preparation and knowledge - Compared to the control group, officers in the treatment group were a little less likely to report that prior stop and search training (including both pilot and other past training) had prepared them with relevant knowledge and skills, based on the Wave 1 survey. This suggests the pilot training compared unfavourably with officers' recollections of training earlier in their careers. - Officers' knowledge of stop and search regulations and policy was generally high and was a little higher in the treatment than control groups, as measured in both Wave 1 and Wave 2 surveys. This suggests that the pilot training improved officers' already strong stop and search knowledge and that this improvement was sustained over time. - In the Wave 2 survey, officers in the treatment group reported less confidence in the adequacy of grounds in written search records than the control group officers did. This suggests that they had become more stringent in their evaluation of grounds for searches. This effect was found for stronger and weaker grounds although there was some evidence that the effect was greater for weaker grounds. Impacts on officers' attitudes - In the Wave 1 survey, treatment group officers averaged slightly less support for police ethnic/racial stereotyping than control group officers, suggesting a small impact of pilot training, although support for ethnic/racial stereotyping was already low among officers. This variable was not measured in the Wave 2 survey. - In the Wave 1 survey, officers in the treatment group were a little less cynical about the prospect of policies regulating officer stop and search practices, suggesting a modest pilot training impact. This effect did not, however, endure to the Wave 2 survey. - In both Wave 1 and Wave 2 surveys, there was a somewhat lower level of support for high volume stop and search strategies in the treatment group compared to the control group. This suggests the pilot training prompted officers to favour a more selective use of stop and search in crime control. This effect was sustained to Wave 2 - In the Wave 1 survey, there were no differences between treatment and control groups in their support for procedural justice (ie, being respectful and fair) during stop and search. Consistent with this finding, the process evaluation showed that procedural justice was not a central feature of the training that was delivered (see Giacomantonio et al, 2016). Support for procedural justice was not measured in Wave 2. Impacts on officers' anticipated behaviours - When presented with a scenario involving the searching of a confrontational suspect in the Wave 1 survey, there were no clear differences between treatment and control group officers in how they said they would treat the suspect. This applied in relation to both procedural justice principles and the legal procedures used in encounters. - As expected, when asked the likelihood of them questioning potentially suspicious people in a range of different scenarios, there was little difference in response between treatment and control group officers. This was true for examples in both Wave 1 and Wave 2 surveys. This suggests the training did not adversely affect officers' anticipated willingness to intervene in situations. - When they were asked how likely they were to search suspicious people in the same scenarios, however, officers in the treatment group reported notably lower probabilities of doing so, in both Wave 1 and 2 surveys. This was true for scenarios involving suspected robbery or drugs offences as well as for both weaker grounds (as initially hypothesised) and stronger grounds. The effect was strongest for searching when the scenario involved the smell of cannabis as a key basis for suspicion, considered to represent weaker grounds. This may, in part, be due to the emphasis placed in the training on the smell of cannabis, in isolation, as constituting inadequate grounds for a search (see Giacomantonio et al, 2016). - Perhaps explaining the pilot training's effects on officers' anticipated search decisions, the Wave 2 survey showed that officers in the treatment group were less likely than those in the control group to evaluate grounds in the scenarios as adequate to justify a search. The survey, however, showed no differences between the groups in officers' declared willingness to conduct searches, provided grounds were present. - The Wave 1 survey randomly varied the scenario suspects - descriptions between 'black' and 'white' when asking officers about their stop and search decision-making. Officers were generally more likely to say they would question or search white suspects than black suspects. - There was, however, no statistically significant effect of training on ethnic/racial disparities in officers' anticipated stop and search decision-making. Impacts on recorded behaviours - Police data provided no strong evidence of a reduction in officers' search rates directly attributable to the training. There was, however, a small effect that was close to statistical significance, meaning it is possible the training had a marginal effect, in line with officers' responses to survey questions. - An analysis of officers' written grounds indicated no differences in their quality between treatment and control groups. This suggests the training had no impact on the types of searches being conducted or the detail provided by officers when recording their grounds. - Police data showed no effects of training on the proportion of searches resulting in arrests, suggesting that the training has produced no improvements in officer effectiveness. - Police data showed no effects of training on the ethnic/racial distribution of people searched. This was consistent with survey findings showing that the training had no effects on the use of ethnic/racial appearance in officers' decision-making when responding to written scenarios. Force-specific effects - Training was associated with more pronounced effects in some forces than others, although variations were not consistent across types of outcome. Key findings include: - Force E registered almost no statistically significant effects on the range of outcome variables. - Force D experienced the largest number of significant effects of treatment on knowledge and attitudes. - Statistically significant effects were found on at least some anticipated search behaviours for all forces, as measured by the surveys, except Force E. - There was, however, a lack of clear and consistent effects of training on actual officer behaviours, as recorded in police data, for any of the forces (apart from two isolated statistically significant effects). - Force-level differences may reflect variations in the implementation of training between sites. Forces, however, also varied in their geography and organisation which may have influenced how the training was received. Some differences may also be the product of chance variations between forces. Conclusions - While the training had some intended effects, these effects were not found for all objectives, were often modest when they were found, and were often inconsistent across forces. Moreover, there were few concrete effects of training found in measured street-level practice. This raises some questions about the utility of the training as it was formulated for the pilot. - Future stop and search training might usefully give greater emphasis to modelling behaviours in stop and search encounters, alongside abstract teaching about the use and regulation of stop and search powers. This could involve the use of role-plays, for example. - Future stop and search training should probably place greater emphasis on improving how officers interact with suspects, paying particular attention to procedural justice principles, given that the pilot training had no effects related to procedural justice. - A training package that also targeted force supervisors and managers might be more effective. Such an approach could involve education in auditing and supervising officers' use of stop and search, and developing supervisors' and managers' skills in encouraging and directing officers to adopt more effective and fairer stop and search practices. Details: London: Research Advisory Services, 2016. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 29, 2017 at: http://whatworks.college.police.uk/Research/Documents/SS_training_IMPACT_EVALUATION_Final_report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://whatworks.college.police.uk/Research/Documents/SS_training_IMPACT_EVALUATION_Final_report.pdf Shelf Number: 146456 Keywords: Police BehaviorPolice Decision-MakingPolice Policies and PracticesPolice TrainingRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Keeling, Peter Title: No respect: Young BAME men, the police and stop and search Summary: exactly 30 years after the Brixton riots, history repeated itself in the summer of 2011 in cities across Britain. Once again, one accelerant to that unrest was a perception among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) young people that they were being unfairly treated by police forces using stop and search. Public figures, including - commendably - the then Home Secretary, pledged action. In the subsequent five years the number of stop and searches effected in England and Wales fell from 1.2 million to 380,000 without any deleterious impact on levels of crime. However, shockingly, the likelihood of someone black being stopped and searched in that period actually rose in relation to white people. A black person is now six times more likely to be searched. Meeting young BAME people engaged through some of the Criminal Justice Alliance's 120 member organisations made clear how toxic this discrepancy, which corrodes their self-esteem, is to good community relations. Too many of them feel a visceral hostility towards police as a consequence. What's most stark is that too many are so obviously also becoming alienated from public institutions meant to protect them at the very point of their transition to adulthood. That's why we decided to listen to what young BAME people had to tell policymakers and those police forces genuinely wrestling with this problem. Much of it, as the recommendations outlined here indicate, was constructive and thoughtful. We also resolved to test whether the views we were hearing were representative of the two million young BAME people in England and Wales, each of them a key part of twenty-first century Britain's future. Polling has confirmed, worryingly, that they were. Almost 1.5 million young BAME people, for example, believe police stop and search powers are currently used unfairly toward their communities. We inhabit a country where it's becoming a truth universally acknowledged that politicians, policymakers and those who lead our public services don't listen enough to those they serve. We hope that all of them - including Police & Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables - will not just listen to the two million young people to whom this report gives voice. We hope they'll now act, and ensure that history does not repeat itself again. Details: London: Barrow Cadbury Trust, 2017. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 27, 2017 at: https://www.barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/No-Respect-CJA-June-2017.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/No-Respect-CJA-June-2017.pdf Shelf Number: 146586 Keywords: MinoritiesRacial DisparitiesRacial ProfilingRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: New York State. Office of the Attorney General Title: A Report on Arrests Arising from the New York City Police Department's Stop-and-Frisk Practices Summary: The stop-and-frisk practice of the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") has been the subject of significant public debate and litigation. Much of the discourse has focused on the practice's constitutionality and its impact on African-American, Latino, and other minority communities. A federal court decision, Floyd v. City of New York, declared stop and frisk unconstitutional as practiced in New York City. That decision has been stayed and is now on appeal to the Second Circuit. Neither the appeal nor the lower court decision, however, addresses the effectiveness of stop and frisk in combating crime. Supporters and opponents of the practice agree that only 6% of all stops result in an arrest. Yet until now, no known study has sought to assess what happens following those arrests. By analyzing close to 150,000 SQF arrests from 2009 through 2012 (out of the approximately 2.4 million stops conducted during those years), this report offers new data on the outcomes of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk practice. The report's key findings include the following: Close to half of all SQF arrests did not result in a conviction; Fewer than one in four SQF arrests - or 1.5% of all stops-resulted in a jail or prison sentence; Just one in fifty SQF arrests - or about 0.1% of all stops-led to a conviction for a crime of violence; Just one in fifty SQF arrests - or about 0.1% of all stops - led to a conviction for possession of a weapon; and Almost one quarter of SQF arrests (24.7%) were dismissed before arraignment or resulted in a non-criminal charge such as an infraction or a violation at the time of arraignment. Details: Albany: Office of the Attorney General, 2013. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 25, 2017 at: https://ag.ny.gov/pdfs/OAG_REPORT_ON_SQF_PRACTICES_NOV_2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: https://ag.ny.gov/pdfs/OAG_REPORT_ON_SQF_PRACTICES_NOV_2013.pdf Shelf Number: 131684 Keywords: Racial Disparities Racial Profiling Racial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and FriskStop and Search |
Author: Doob, Anthony N. Title: Understanding the Impact of Police Stops Summary: Imagine that technology existed such that the police could, electronically, identify and track everyone and every motor vehicle in the city and that this information were stored electronically and available to the police, as required, for solving crime. Even if such information was not admissible as evidence, one could easily see its possible value in solving crime. If a home were broken into, one only would have to search a data base to find out who had been in the neighbourhood. If a pedestrian were hit by a car that did not remain at the scene of the accident, one would only need to see what vehicles had been at that scene around the time of the accident to narrow down the possible suspects considerably. If a person were found to be using or in possession of drugs, one would only need to see whom that person had been in close contact with in recent times to identify a fairly small group of suspects as the source of those drugs. If a person were thought to be a member of a gang, it would be easy to find out whom that person associated with on a regular basis. We don't live in such a society. Obviously the information that the police have about the non-criminal activities of ordinary citizens is much more limited than that described in the previous paragraph. But what if it turned out we did live in the world described in the previous paragraph and people suddenly expressed the desire no longer to live in a world with constant and complete police scrutiny of their ordinary activities? One could imagine the suggestion would be made that not allowing police the kind of surveillance described in the previous paragraph would limit their ability to solve crime. We raise this hypothetical scenario for a particular reason: There is no point in arguing whether complete or highly detailed information about the day-to-day movements or meetings that Canadians have might be useful to the police in solving crime. At a more mundane level, we see on an almost daily basis that footage from 'security' cameras is now routinely used to solve crime in a manner not too different from that described above. Our second example comes closer to the issue of police stops. Imagine that there were no controls whatsoever on the power of the police to stop pedestrians and motorists and ask them to identify themselves. Even if, in law, citizens were not required to identify themselves or to answer any questions, one could argue that maintaining whatever information was obtained could be useful if a crime took place in that neighbourhood or someone associated with the person who had been stopped was suspected of some wrongdoing. That this information could potentially be useful is not the point. The question that needs to be raised in both of these examples is a much more complex one: What might be the 'costs' and 'benefits' to society of these kinds of data gathering programs? Even these two hypothetical scenarios are missing something crucial: comparison groups. The question, in most public policy areas, is not whether there are some successful outcomes from a particular procedure, but whether there are better outcomes overall than there might be under some other procedure. For example, in each of the hypothetical scenarios described above, it might be that deployment of resources in some quite different way or a decision to address some quite different problem would serve the community better than the scenarios described. Or such procedures as described earlier might help solve crime but would lessen cooperation with the police on important matters. Comparison groups or procedures typically are not employed adequately when assessing possible policy choices, but in reality the need for a 'comparison' is usually important. In a discussion about police equipment (e.g., body worn cameras), not only might one want to know whether they affect police or citizen behaviour (implying a comparison with how police or citizens behave without the device), but a serious policy analysis should include an analysis of alternative uses of the resources that would be required for the purchase and use of the devices. An example of the inappropriate use of implied comparisons is when changes in police strength or police tactics are implemented after an unusual (e.g., serious, violent) incident. When police, understandably, change their approach to policing a neighbourhood that experienced an unusual incident or high concentration of serious incidents, they sometimes infer that any subsequent return to 'normal' levels of crime is 'caused' by changes they made in their presence in the neighbourhood. Without adequate comparison areas (e.g., areas that experienced a 'spike' that did not result in changes in policing), such causal inferences simply aren't defensible. The issues become more complex when one moves closer to reality. One fact about crime that noone questions is that it is not evenly (or even randomly) distributed across people, groups of people, or neighbourhoods in our society. Young males, for example, are disproportionately more likely to be involved in a variety of different kinds of crime than other people. People who live in certain kinds of neighbourhoods are more likely to commit offences than people in other neighbourhoods. But some neighbourhoods themselves appear to have characteristics that make them more likely to be the sites for crime above and beyond the characteristics of the individuals who live in them. In this context, a policing perspective that did not consider any other concerns could justify focusing surveillance resources on certain neighbourhoods or types of people (e.g., young males). The problem is that there almost always are other concerns, and concerns that could easily have the effect of undermining the crime control goal of proactive policing activities, such as police stops. This report examines some of the more reliable research that has been carried out on issues broadly related to 'street stops' of ordinary citizens. It makes the assumption that stops can have more than one effect and that some of these effects might, broadly speaking, be favourable and others unfavourable. Hence this report is more than an attempt to answer the question of whether street stops have a short term effect on local crime. We are not claiming to provide an exhaustive review of the literature that summarizes all of the research on issues related to street stops. Were we to do so, we would spend considerable resources reviewing and discarding inadequate research papers. Instead we are relying on Criminological Highlights, a research information service, produced by the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies of the University of Toronto. The papers summarized in this information service not only have been reviewed by reputable social science journals, but also by our editorial board (currently of about 11 people), which has read and evaluated each paper that is summarized in Criminological Highlights. The one page summaries of articles we cite are attached to this report and are an integral part of it. Most importantly, these summaries make it easy for readers to evaluate the information on which our conclusions are based. Details: Toronto: University of Toronto, Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, 2017. 90p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2018 at: http://criminology.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DoobGartnerPoliceStopsReport-17Jan2017r.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Canada URL: http://criminology.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DoobGartnerPoliceStopsReport-17Jan2017r.pdf Shelf Number: 149726 Keywords: Crime HotspotsPolice CrackdownsPolice Policies and PracticesPolice SurveillancePolice-Citizen InteractionsRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and FriskStop and Search |
Author: Foster, Lorne Title: Race Data and Traffic Stops in Ottawa, 2013-2015: A Report on Ottawa and the Police Districts Summary: This report provides a city overview of the findings of the Ottawa Police Service's Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project (TSRDCP), a pioneering community-based research project that involved undertaking the largest race based data collection in Canadian policing history. The project arose from an agreement between the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and the Ottawa Police Services Board (Board), the Ottawa Police Service (OPS). The OHRC and the OPS believe that race based data collection is part of an organizational approach to ensuring bias-neutral policing services. Full information regarding the agreement is available online at ottawapolice.ca/race. The Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project required police officers to record their perception of the driver's race, by observation only, for traffic stops over a two-year period from June 27, 2013 to June 26, 2015. A total of 81,902 records of traffic stops were examined for this Report. Each record included complete information on race, sex and age, along with complete information on police districts, reasons for traffic stops and outcomes. The record did not include the time of day nor the neighbourhood where the stop occurred. The officers entering the race data reported perceiving the race of the driver prior to the stop in 11.4% of the cases. This research project addresses three issues: INCIDENCES OF TRAFFIC STOPS - Do drivers of different race groups have disproportionately high incidences of traffic stops, when compared with their respective driver populations in Ottawa? Research findings showed that: - The study examines 81, 902 traffic stops where officers recorded their perception of the driver's race: 69.3% White (56,776), 12.3% Middle Easterner (10,066), 8.8% Black (7,238), 4.7% E.Asian/SE Asian (3,875), 2.7% S. Asian (2,195), 1.9% Other racialized minorities (1,545), and .3% Indigenous Peoples (207). - In Ottawa, Middle Easterner and Black groups, irrespective of their sex and age, are the two race groups with disproportionately high incidences of traffic stops. Middle Easterner Drivers were stopped 10066 times, which constituted about 12.3% of the total stops over the two year period. However, these drivers represent less than 4% of the total driving population in Ottawa. This means that Middle Easterner Drivers were stopped 3.3 times more than what you would expect based on their population. Black Drivers were stopped 7238 times, which constituted about 8.8% of the total stops over the two-year period. However, these drivers represent less than 4% of the total driving population in Ottawa. This means that Black Drivers were stopped 2.3 times more than what you would expect based on their population. - With the exception of Indigenous peoples, men aged 16-24 of all race groups (including White) have disproportionately high incidences of traffic stops. The disproportionalities ranged from 64.21% (E. Asian/ S.E. Asian) to 1100.39% (Middle Easterner). - Middle Easterner Male Drivers aged 16-24 were stopped 2302 times, which constituted about 2.8% of the total stops over the two year period. However, these drivers represent less than 0.25% of the total driving population in Ottawa. This means that young Middle Easterner male drivers were stopped 12 times more than what you would expect based on their population. Black Male Drivers aged 16-24 were stopped 1238 times, which constituted about 1.5% of the total stops over the two year period. However, these drivers represent less than 0.2% of the total driving population in Ottawa. This means that young Black male drivers were stopped 8.3 times more than what you would expect based on their population. White Male Drivers aged 16-24 were stopped 6172 times, which constituted about 7.5% of the total stops over the two year period. However, these drivers represent about 4.3% of the total driving population in Ottawa. This means that young White male drivers were stopped 1.7 times more than what you would expect based on their population. REASONS FOR TRAFFIC STOPS - Do racialized minority drivers experience disproportionately high incidences of specific reasons for traffic stops when compared with their White counterparts in Ottawa? Research findings showed that: - The findings showed that the reason most used by police officers in traffic stops is "provincial and municipal offenses". It was used in 79,603 of the 81, 902 traffic stops (97.19%). Police officers did not utilize "provincial and municipal offenses" for traffic stops in a disproportional manner for any racial minority groups. - When compared with the White group, "criminal offences" reason has been used disproportionately by police officers for five of the six racialized minority groups. The data is inconclusive about Indigenous peoples with regard to this issue because the number of stops citing "criminal offenses" was too low to draw any conclusions. - Similarly, "suspicious activities" reason has been used disproportionately by police officers for four racialized minority group - Indigenous peoples (99.37%), Black (148.40%), Middle Easterner (133.70%), and other racialized minorities (132.78%). OUTCOMES OF TRAFFIC STOPS - Do racialized minority drivers experience disproportionately high incidences of specific outcome of traffic stops when compared with their White counterparts in Ottawa? Research findings showed that: - All race groups (including White) have received similar proportions of charges (44.65%) from police officers after traffic stops. - All race groups (including White) have received similar proportions of warnings (41.29%) from police officers after traffic stops. - Indigenous peoples (37.77%), Black (47.28%), Middle Easterner (36.84%), and other racialized minorities (28.21%) groups experienced disproportionately high incidences of "final (no action)" outcomes of traffic stops. This study is a correlational study on the relationship between race, sex, age, and traffic stops in Ottawa. It does not deal with the issue of causality. That is to say, it does not explain why and how these factors are related or not related. For this reason, the findings only provide a big picture of traffic stops in the entire capital city of Ottawa, covering a two-year period from 2013 and 2015 - a picture which provides a fresh and pioneering perspective on race and traffic stops in Canada. Details: Ottawa: Ottawa Police Services Board and Ottawa Police Service, 2016. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 19, 2018 at: https://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/about-us/resources/.TSRDCP_York_Research_Report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Canada URL: https://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/about-us/resources/.TSRDCP_York_Research_Report.pdf Shelf Number: 149850 Keywords: Racial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and FriskStop and SearchTraffic Enforcement |
Author: Patterson, Colin Vincent Title: NYPD Application of Stop, Question, and Frisk: Effects on Citizens Attitudes towards the Police and Police Community Relations Summary: Between 2004 and 2012, the New York City Police Department conducted more than 4.4 million stop, question, and frisks on predominately Black and Hispanic males. The purpose of this quantitative, multiple regression correlational study was to examine the effect of Stop, Question, and Frisk on citizens attitudes towards the police of citizens of New York City who resided in high crime neighborhoods. This study measured the effects of Stop, Question, and Frisk in the dimensions of cooperation, specific trust, and general attitudes toward the police. This study was completed by conducting an anonymous online survey consisting of 52 questions in English, delivered by Survey Monkey Targeted Audience Collector to 110 participants, both male and female 18 years of age or older. To address the research questions, linear regressions were used to explore the relationships between race, trust, and cooperation. The results of the regression for research question one on trust was statistically significant, suggesting that there was a difference in the level of trust with police between Black or Hispanic and Other races. The regression for research question two on cooperation was not statistically significant, suggesting that there was not a difference in the level of cooperation with police between Black or Hispanic and other races. The results of the study indicate that the participants' reason for not trusting the police, was due to the perceived disrespect they felt was portrayed towards them by police officers they had interacted with. However, although they did not trust the police they were willing to cooperate with the police. Lack of trust between the police and the citizens they serve may negatively impact police community relations. The results may be different in a time-lag longitudinal study. More research is needed to determine if racial disparity in the level of trust in the police exists while simultaneously examining the level of cooperation among a similar population sample in other high crime communities across the United States of America. Details: San Diego, California: Northcentral University, 2017. 170p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 11, 2018 at: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1973128645?pq-origsite=gscholar Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1973128645?pq-origsite=gscholar Shelf Number: 150154 Keywords: Police LegitiimacyPolice-Citizen InteractionsPolice-Community RelationsStop and FriskStop and Search |
Author: Marshall, Lysandra R. Title: Racial Disparities in Police Stops in Kingston, Ontario: Democratic Racism and Canadian Racial Profiling in Theoretical Perspective Summary: This study takes a quantitative and qualitative approach to examine police stops in an Ontario city. The author finds that Black residents were over stopped by police, and the over stopping may not be fully explained by the police-reported reasons and dispositions of the stops. In other words, the author suggests that police stops have less to do with crime control models of criminal justice, and more to do with surveiling marginalized populations. The author uses critical discourse analysis to examine news coverage of the racial profiling controversy in Ontario, including news reports on the study. The author argues that public discourse (both liberal 'anti-profiling' advocates and conservative supporters of police) contributes to the continued targeting of certain groups, by constructing an ideal victim of racial profiling (middle class, respectable), thus excluding all other subjects from legitimately seeking freedom from being hassled by police and having freedom of movement enjoyed by the non-profiled population. The study also uncovers the influential role of police unions in Ontario in manipulating political discourse on race and policing. Details: Toronto: University of Toronto, 2017. 317p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed August 10, 2018 at: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/77464/1/Marshall_Lysandra_201703_PhD_thesis.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Canada URL: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/77464/1/Marshall_Lysandra_201703_PhD_thesis.pdf Shelf Number: 151105 Keywords: Police Misconduct Racial Disparities Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement Stop and Search |
Author: Miller, Eric J. Title: Reasonably Radical: Terry's Attack on Race-Based Policing Summary: In this article celebrating the 50th anniversary of Terry v. Ohio, I argue that the criminal justice system is not an integrated system, but a fragmented one. One way it is fragmented, the Terry Court recognizes, is between crime control and public-order policing. Crime control has high-judicial visibility, allowing illegally-gained evidence to be excluded at trial. Public-order policing has low-judicial visibility. What happens on the street stays on the street, and rarely makes it to the courtroom. Read this way, Terry tells lawyers something uncomfortable. In a fragmented criminal justice system, there are some forms of police misconduct that the Court, and the exclusionary rule, just cannot remedy. Doing social activism through law is not enough. The Fourth Amendment lacks the resources to protect us from race-based policing. For the most part, the race-based criticism of Terry focuses, understandably enough, on the Court's failure to engage with a race-conscious approach to the problems of race-based policing. Many of these critiques are urgent and important. However, in an attempt to place the blame for subsequent doctrinal novelties at the feet of the Terry Court, they generally embargo and explain away the Court's explicit discussion of race-based policing and the Court's references-express and implied-to the recently published Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. To reclaim a sense of Terry's powerful engagement with race and reasonableness, I want to separate out Terry from its progeny and suggest that the Court was engaged in a conversation with the 1967 President's Commission Report, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society. I begin by discussing the President's Commission's radical critique of race-based policing and its even more radical recommendations for reform: recommendations that have largely been ignored and unfulfilled. I then explain how Terry's approach to stop and frisk responds to race-based harassment by, not only adopting, but rendering more stringent, the President Commission's recommendations on the use of stops and frisks. I suggest that Terry's precise, rule-like approach to stop-and-frisk policing precludes its use as a device for low-level racial harassment and limits its use to investigating crimes of violence. This precision enabled the Court to tackle head-on a problem identified by both the Terry Court and the Report: the central place occupied by physical displays of police authority - often called "command presence" - to dominate racial minorities. I conclude by suggesting that critics, frustrated at the way the reasonable suspicion standard has been co-opted by a pro-police agenda, miss the Court's central regulatory claims. Three claims are particularly important: (1) that there is not one criminal justice system, but many overlapping systems; (2) that the police conduct is highly visible in minority communities; but (3) that same conduct is low visibility in the courts that are supposed to regulate their behavior. Constitutional litigation is thus a limited resource against the sort of low-visibility policing that remains separate from the process of criminal prosecution and so incapable of judicial oversight. Details: Los Angeles: Loyola Law School, 2018. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-31: Accessed September 26, 2018 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3238801 Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3238801 Shelf Number: 151698 Keywords: Racial BiasRacial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and FriskStop and SearchTerry v. Ohio |
Author: Shiner, Michael Title: Report on the Use of Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 by the Police Summary: This report has been prepared by Dr Michael Shiner at the request of Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, in connection with the Section 60 stop and search of Ms Anne Juliette Roberts. Dr. Shiner is a senior lecturer in the Social Policy Department at the London School of Economics and Co-Director of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology. He has been working as a researcher and teacher in the fields of criminology and social policy for 20 years. Dr Shiners areas of expertise include policing and race, with particular reference to the use of police powers. Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 provides the police with an exceptional stop and search power to tackle the threat of imminent violence. Having originally been introduced to help deal with football-related violence the use of this power has increased markedly as it has become a key component in the police's response to knife crime. Section 60 searches are controversial because they are not subject to the checks and balances that ordinarily apply to police stop and search powers, because they can be used to search anybody in a given area without 'reasonable suspicion' that they have done anything wrong, and because they focus disproportionately on people from black and minority ethnic groups. This lack of due process and apparent unfairness threatens to damage police - community relations at a time when they are already under strain. Details: London: London School of Economics, 2012. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2018 at: http://www.stop-watch.org/uploads/documents/Shiner_expertwitnessstatement_s60.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.stop-watch.org/uploads/documents/Shiner_expertwitnessstatement_s60.pdf Shelf Number: 153130 Keywords: Police Community Relations Police Stop and Search Police Use of Force Stop and Search |
Author: Shiner, Michael Title: The Colour of Injustice: 'Race', drugs and law enforcement in England and Wales Summary: Stop and search focuses on low-level drug offences - Use of stop and search has fallen sharply, dropping by 75 per cent from 2010/11 to 2016/17. - Stop and search has become increasingly concentrated on suspected drug offences, most of which involve low-level possession. Half of all stop-searches were targeted at drugs in 2010/11, rising to almost two-thirds by 2016/17. - The intensity of the focus on drugs varies sharply between forces: 82 per cent of stop-searches during 2016/17 were for drugs in Merseyside compared with 46 per cent in Durham. - Substantial variations are evident between forces with similar crime-relevant profiles, suggesting they are largely a function of differences in police policy and decision-making. - Police forces are making operational decisions to target low-level drug possession offences over other, more serious, offences. Stop and search is more disproportionate than ever - The number of stop and searches has fallen sharply for all ethnic groups, but has fallen most sharply for white people even though they had relatively modest rates of exposure at the outset. - Disproportionality has increased as the use of stop and search has fallen, indicating that residual use of the powers is more heavily concentrated on black and minority ethnic groups. - Black people were stopped and searched at more than eight times the rate of white people in 2016/17. Asian people and those in the 'mixed' group were stopped and searched at more than twice the rate of white people. - Black people were stopped and searched for drugs at almost nine times the rate of white people, while Asian people and those in the 'mixed' group were stop-searched for drugs at almost three times the rate of white people. - The 'find' rate for drugs is lower for black than white people, suggesting that such searches are carried out on the basis of weaker 'grounds' for black people. Variations across forces point to discrimination - Forces vary sharply in their overall use of stop and search as well as their rates of disproportionality. Such differences are evident between forces with similar crime-relevant profiles, suggesting they are largely a function of police policy and decision-making. - High rates of stop and search in London are an important driver of ethnic disproportionality because a large proportion of the black and minority ethnic population live in the capital - Black people were stopped and searched at a higher rate than white people by every force in England and Wales during 2016/17. Disproportionality ratios varied from 1.7 in Durham to 20.4 in Dorset for all stop-searches; and from 1.7 in Cleveland to 26.5 in Dorset for drug searches. - Some forces have substantially reduced their use of stop and search without seeing a corresponding increase in disproportionality. Other forces have combined much more modest reductions in stop and search with high, and increasing, rates of disproportionality. London data point to patterns of geographic and individual profiling - Overall rates of stop and search are higher among inner than outer London boroughs. - Variations between boroughs are strongly linked to levels of deprivation. Overall rates of stop and search are highest in more deprived boroughs with considerable inequality. - Rates of stop and search appear to be more sensitive to deprivation and inequality than crime. The concentration of stop and search in deprived boroughs cannot be explained by patterns of drug use, including cannabis use. - The concentration of stop and search in boroughs with high levels of deprivation and inequality fuels disproportionality because people from black and some other minority ethnic groups tend to live in such areas in relatively large numbers. - 'Race' complicates and confounds the general relationship between stop and search and deprivation. Rates of stop and search for black people do not vary with levels of deprivation. - Disproportionality is highest in relatively wealthy and affluent boroughs. White people are subject to very low rates of stop and search in such locations, while black people continue to experience heightened rates of intervention. This pattern is consistent with ethnic profiling because it indicates that black people are being singled out for suspicion. Arrests and out of court disposals exacerbate ethnic disparities - Stop and search was responsible for 39 per cent of all arrests for drugs in 2016/17 compared with 3 per cent of arrests for other offences. - The rate at which stop and search identifies stolen or prohibited items is similar for all ethnic groups, though the 'find rate' for drug searches is lower for black than white people. - The rate at which further action is taken, leading to a criminal justice outcome, is similar for all ethnic groups, but there are marked differences in the type of action taken. - Black people are more likely to be arrested as a result of stop and search than white people, but less likely to be given an out of court disposal. This means black people are more likely to be prosecuted. - Penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) or 'on the street- fines are the only out of court disposal that black people receive at higher rate than white people. Unlike other out of court disposals, PNDs do not require an admission of guilt. - The number of arrests from stop and search has fallen much more sharply for white than black people. Arrests from drug searches halved for white people between 2010/11 and 2016/17, but remained stable for black people. - Stop and search accounts for a much larger proportion of arrests of black than white people: 17 per cent compared with 5 per cent for all offences; and 57 per cent compared with 31 per cent for drug offences. Such disparities suggest that the disproportionate application of stop and search is largely a function of police policy and decision-making rather than crime. Sentencing decisions perpetuating injustice - Ethnic disparities introduced by stop and search and other forms of police activity follow through to prosecution, conviction and sentencing. - Black people were prosecuted for drug offences at more than eight times the rate of white people in 2017. This compared with almost four times the rate for all indictable offences. - More black people were prosecuted for cannabis possession than supply of Class A or B substances combined. The balance was reversed for white people. - Black and Asian people were convicted of cannabis possession at 11.8 and 2.4 times the rate white people despite their lower rates of self-reported use, providing prima facie evidence of discrimination. - Black people made up a quarter of those convicted of cannabis possession even though they comprise less than 4 per cent of the population. - Black people were sentenced to immediate custody for drug offences at 9.1 times the rate of white people, but given suspended sentences at 5.6 times the rate of white people. Details: London: StopWatch, Release, International Drug Policy Unit, 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 2, 2018 at: https://www.release.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/The%20Colour%20of%20Injustice.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.release.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/The%20Colour%20of%20Injustice.pdf Shelf Number: 153151 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug EnforcementDrug OffendersRacial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and Search |
Author: Ristroph, Alice Title: The Constitution of Police Violence Summary: Police force is again under scrutiny in the United States. Several recent killings of black men by police officers have prompted an array of reform proposals, most of which seem to assume that these recent killings were not (or should not be) authorized and legal. Our constitutional doctrine suggests otherwise. From the 1960s to the present, federal courts have persistently endorsed a very expansive police authority to make seizures - to stop persons, to arrest them, and to use force if the arrestee resists. This Article reveals the full scope of this seizure authority. Of particular importance are the concepts of resistance and compliance. Demands for compliance with officers, and a condemnation of resistance that authorizes police to meet resistance with violence, run throughout constitutional doctrine. Ostensibly race-neutral, the duty of compliance has in fact been distributed along racial lines, and may be contrasted with a privilege of resistance (also race-specific) elsewhere protected in American law. Tracing resistance and compliance helps reveal the ways in which the law distributes risks of violence, and it may help inspire proposals to reduce and redistribute those risks. Details: Unpublished paper, 2016. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Seton Hall Public Law Research Paper: Accessed January 28, 2019 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2847300 Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2847300 Shelf Number: 154406 Keywords: Fourth AmendmentPolice Deadly ForcePolice Use of ForcePolice ViolenceRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementRacismStop and SearchTraffic Stops |
Author: Hales, Gavin Title: Stop and search and knife crime revisited: a small piece of the bigger picture Summary: Last year I wrote a blog on 'what we know and what we don't' about the links between stop and search and knife crime in London. At that time, there were signs that knife crime was increasing after a period of falls, and a number of commentators connected that to the very large reduction seen in the use of stop and search by around three quarters from a peak in 2011. In October 2015, Theresa May, then Home Secretary, used a speech to the National Black Police Association to refute any link between falls in the use of stop and search and rising knife crime, stating: "when you look at the evidence, when you look at places like London where stop and searches have fallen the most, you see that in fact that reduction has nothing to do with knife crime. In London, so-called blade or point stops where officers suspect the individual is carrying a knife accounted for less than one per cent of the reduction in stops and searches by the Metropolitan Police in the last year. "The greatest reductions in London have actually been in stop and searches related to drugs and stolen property, of which there were 77,000 fewer this year four-fifths of the total fall in stops and searches. So it is simply not true that knife crime is rising because the police are no longer stopping and searching those carrying knives." Details: London: The Police Foundation, 2016. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 20, 2019 at: http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/2016/12/stop-and-search-and-knife-crime-revisited-a-small-piece-of-the-bigger-picture/ Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/2016/12/stop-and-search-and-knife-crime-revisited-a-small-piece-of-the-bigger-picture/ Shelf Number: 154672 Keywords: Knife CrimeSearch and SeizureStop and Search |
Author: Sequino, Stephanie Title: Driving While Black and Brown in Vermont Summary: Vermont is perceived to be a political outlier in the United States. It was the first state to outlaw slavery in 1777. And in our more recent history, Vermont was one of the first states to legalize civil unions and to push (unsuccessfully) for a single payer health care system. When it comes to race relations, it is assumed that Vermont is equally liberal and as result, racial bias towards people who are Black and Hispanic, evident in other parts of the country, should largely be absent here. This paper investigates that assumption. In particular, the authors analyze police traffic stop data to assess the extent, if any, of racial disparities in policing. This task is made possible by legislation passed in the Vermont House that required police departments to begin to collect traffic stop data by race as of September 2014. Our goal in this study is to examine whether the treatment of Black and Hispanic drivers differs significantly from that of White and Asian drivers. We compiled the dataset used to conduct this analysis from data sent to us by individual law enforcement agencies. A number of agencies were unable to deliver the full dataset because they lacked administrative support to extract the data and provide it in a form that was analyzable. County sheriff's departments were less likely than municipal police agencies to be able to provide the requisite data. Some agencies collected only a few of the required categories of data, and in cases where essential data were missing, results from these agencies could not be included. Finally, in many cases, the collection of race data was incomplete, such that there are a large number of police stops with missing information. Also, the starting date of data collection varied between agencies. In total, this report is based on data from 29 police agencies. These include 24 out of 44 municipal police agencies. Because our dataset covers the largest towns and cities in Vermont, however, it represents 78% of the total population policed by all municipal police agencies. In addition, the dataset includes three out of 14 county sheriff departments as well as the Vermont State Police and University of Vermont police. In this study, we conducted analysis at four levels: 1) the state, 2) counties, 3) local police agencies, and 4) within-agency at the officer level where data by officer was provided. At the state level, we evaluated racial disparities for 2015, the only year for which we have complete data for all 29 police agencies. In addition, we evaluated racial disparities by county, based on aggregating the 29 agencies included in our data set, also for 2015. The state and county analyses are of particular relevance in understanding the experience of traffic policing from the perspective of Black and Hispanic drivers in Vermont. Finally, we evaluate results for each agency separately using all years for which data was provided. Agency-level data reveal differences in patterns of policing across the state. Due to the limited data available from some of the smaller agencies, we could only make statistically reliable inferences on racial disparities for a restricted set of indicators. Nevertheless, we provide a full summary of traffic stops and outcomes by race for individual agencies in Appendix A, Table A4. Our study is based on an analysis of several indicators, no single one of which is evidence of racial bias. Rather, the collective results from all of the indicators provide the basis for our summary assessment. The indicators in this study include: 1) stop rates by race compared to racial shares of the population; 2) males as a share of stops by race, 3) the proportion of drivers by race receiving citations; 4) racial differences in arrest rates; 5) racial differences in search rates; and 6) the percentage of searches that yield contraband (the "hit" rate). Where an agency has provided data, we also offer an agency-level analysis of stop behavior by officer. Among our main findings are the following: - Ticket rates: At the state level, Black and Hispanic drivers are more likely to receive a citation once stopped than are White or Asian drivers. - Arrest rates: At the state level, the Black arrest rate is almost double the White arrest rate. At the agency level, disparities differ. For example, at the high end, Black drivers stopped by Rutland police are 2.6 times more likely to be arrested than White drivers, subsequent to a discretionary stop (excluding arrests on warrant), and in Williston, 2.3 times more likely. - Search and "hit" rates: At the state level, Black drivers are four times more likely to be searched, subsequent to a stop, than White drivers. Hispanics also experience elevated search rates compared to Whites; they are almost three times more likely to be searched. Asian drivers are less likely to be searched than White (or Black and Hispanic) drivers. In contrast to these search rates, Black and Hispanic drivers are less likely than White or Asian drivers to be found with contraband that leads to a citation or an arrest. Officers would appear to have a lower threshold of evidence for searching vehicles with Black and Hispanic drivers. This suggests a problem of over-searching of Black and Hispanic drivers as compared to a possible under-searching of White and Asian drivers. Variations exist at the agency level. However, only a few agencies have sufficient data to make statistically reliable inferences on racial differences in hit rates. Among those that do (Burlington, Rutland, Vermont State Police), hit rates of Black drivers are lower than of White drivers. Hits that result in arrests - indicative of more serious contraband - occur also at a lower rate for Black drivers than White drivers for all of three of these agencies as well as Williston. - Stop rates: Black and Hispanic drivers are stopped at a higher rate than their share of the population while White and Asian drivers are stopped at rates that are below their population shares. Stop rate disparities are often subject to criticism because researchers typically lack precise measures of the driving population. We have sought to overcome that by using accident data on the race of not-at-fault drivers. Also, most of our indicators of racial disparities are based on post-stop outcomes, which do not rely on estimates of the driving population. - Male drivers are more likely to be stopped than female drivers, regardless of race/ethnicity. But the racial disparities in male shares of stops are notably large. At the agency level, for example, in Middlebury, among Black drivers stopped, 88% are male, while among White drivers stopped, 62% are male. Overall, Black and Hispanic males comprise a larger share of stopped drivers in their racial/ethnic group than do White males, suggesting a possibility that Black and Hispanic males, in particular, are targets of heightened police scrutiny. - Officer stop rates of Black drivers: Twelve agencies provided traffic stop data by officer, allowing us to calculate within-agency disparities in stop rates. The results indicate that the disparity in Black/White stop rates at the agency level cannot, in general, be attributed to the behavior of just a few officers. The data indicate that this behavior is common to many officers, perhaps suggesting more pervasive cultural norms within agencies that contribute to disparities. Of note, in Brandon Police Department, 67% of officers stop Black drivers at a rate that is 50% greater than their share of the population. A sizeable share of officers in Bennington, Manchester, Middlebury, and Winooski also stop Black drivers at rates higher than expected, given population shares. In addition to disparities in stop rates by race by officer, we also found evidence of variation by officer in the completeness of their legally required data reporting. - Data quality: Missing data is a concern. Some agencies were not able to respond to our request for data. Moreover, many agencies have high rates of missing data in key categories. For example, in St. Albans Police Department, race was not recorded in 29% of stops, and in Addison County Sheriff Department, race was missing in 17% of traffic stop incident reports. Missing data undermines efforts to accurately assess the degree of racial disparities in traffic policing Details: Unpublished paper, 2017. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 15, 2019 at: https://www.uvm.edu/giee/pdfs/SeguinoBrooks_PoliceRace_2017.pdf Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.uvm.edu/giee/pdfs/SeguinoBrooks_PoliceRace_2017.pdf Shelf Number: 155406 Keywords: Racial DisparitiesRacial Profiling in Law EnforcementStop and SearchTraffic Policing |