NCJ Number
222604
Date Published
2007
Length
81 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed data on all street encounters between New York City police officers and pedestrians in 2006 in order to determine whether or not officer racial bias was involved in stopping particular pedestrians, as well as whether or not the encounters were more intrusive for non-Whites.
Abstract
After adjusting for stop circumstances, the study found small racial differences in the rates of frisk, search, use of force, and arrest in pedestrian stops by New York City police. Non-Whites generally experienced slightly more frisks and searches than did similarly situated White suspects. Although most racial differences in poststop outcomes were small, for some outcomes in some boroughs, the gaps warrant a closer review. Although the New York Police Department must monitor this issue, the findings do not indicate the need for a large-scale restructuring of the department's stop-question-and-frisk (SQF) policies and procedures. The researchers recommend that officers clearly explain to pedestrians why they are being stopped; that the department review the boroughs with the largest racial disparities in stop outcomes; that the SQF report form be revised to capture data on use of force; that new officers be instructed in SQF documentation policies; that the department consider modifying the audits of SQF reports; and that the department identify, flag, and investigate officers with stop patterns that depart significantly from the norm for other officers. For the more than 500,000 pedestrian stops in 2006, researchers compared the racial distribution of stops to a variety of benchmarks, compared each officer's stopping patterns with a benchmark constructed from stops in similar circumstances made by other officers, and examined stop outcomes. 5 figures, 12 figures, 24 references, and appended details on methodology and a sample of the SQF report worksheet