NCJ Number
197388
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2002 Pages: 399-430
Date Published
September 2002
Length
32 pages
Annotation
Focusing on racial profiling, this article discusses the importance of addressing both race and location in racial profiling.
Abstract
Discussing community patterns of residential segregation, this article focuses on racial profiling according to both race and location. After introducing the practice of minority motorists being stopped by police in suburban areas, the authors suggest that police behavior varies by ecological or neighborhood context. Focusing on the dual issues of race and place, the authors argue that in racial profiling police officers tend to center on what should occur and not occur in a particular neighborhood, who belongs in an area, and where they do belong. Following a discussion of racial profiling as police officers’ use of race as the sole basis of initiating law enforcement activity, the authors describe the data used in their study. Using qualitative and quantitative data from a medium-sized suburban police department, results from examining in-car computers called mobile data terminals (MDTs) and from conducting a roadway observation study indicate that racial profiling has an important ecological distribution. Results indicate that proactive surveillance of African-American drivers significantly increases as African-Americans travel farther from “black communities” and into “whiter” areas. This article concludes by proposing sensitivity training to reduce racial profiling. Tables, references