NCJ Number
79638
Date Published
1981
Length
88 pages
Annotation
A demographic profile of persons arrested during the May 1980 civil disturbances in Miami, Fla., is presented.
Abstract
The nearly week-long civil disturbance began May 17, 1980, sparked by an all-white jury's verdict that acquitted four police officers accused of killing a black man in Liberty City. Study data were obtained from arrest forms and from the county's criminal justice information system. Data were collected on only those persons booked from May 17th through the morning of May 23rd whose arrest forms indicated that charges were directly related to the civil disturbance. Of the 855 arrestees studied, 92 percent were black, 5 percent were white, 3 percent were Latin, and about .5 percent were Caribbean black. The largest age group was years 22 through 29. Most of the arrestees were males. Female arrestees were most often accused of being involved in looting, while males engaged in a variety of criminal acts that included more violent and destructive behavior. Thirty-two percent of the arrestees had prior records and had been involved in more serious and violent crimes than those without previous records. Although the majority of charges were associated with looting, the most serious charges were homicide and arson. About half of all charges had been closed at the end of data collection. Twenty-four percent of all charges resulted in issuance of bench warrants, capias, and alias capias. The percent of all charges were set for trial. Failure to obtain positive identification of all arrestees may have prevented the discovery of outstanding arrest warrants for some of the arrestees. The arrest form and tabular data are appended.