Intersection of Racial Profiling Research and the Law

• NCJ Number: 223065
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 36 Issue: 2 Dated: May/June 2008 Pages: 138-153
• Author(s): Rob Tillyer; Robin S. Engel; John Wooldredge
• Date Published: May 2008
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines issues related to research that are able to inform the legal system, police, politicians, and citizens regarding patterns or trends of potential racial/ethnic disparities by police, but perhaps should not be used to determine racial/ethnic discrimination by police.

Abstract

The intersection of policing research and the law is not a new phenomenon. There has been a significant increase in the litigation of selective enforcement cases based on racial profiling claims, resulting in two legal issues that are problematic for racial profiling research. First, selective enforcement claims that rely on statistical evidence must successfully measure “similarly situated persons” who were eligible for police stops to provide a comparison against those actually stopped by police. Second, the research must demonstrate “how much” statistical evidence of racial/ethnic disparities exists. The problem lies with the methodologies and statistical analyses currently used in racial profiling research which cannot adequately address these issues. This article argues that the over-reliance on social science research to provide evidence of discrimination in selective enforcement cases places policing research and legal decisonmaking at a crossroads. The article begins with a brief review of the history of racial profiling. It then highlights the validity and reliability of various methods for creating benchmarks against which to measure police officers’ stopping behavior. It discusses the amount of evidence necessary to determine discriminatory purpose and effect, critiquing the two-step process typically used for statistically identifying racial and ethnic disparities in selective enforcement. The article concludes by highlighting the problems associated with the over-reliance on social science research, in general, and statistical techniques, specifically, to provide evidence of discrimination in selective enforcement and provide several suggestions for how social science might improve the study of racial profiling. Table, notes, and references