RACE, CRIME AND ARRESTS - GREAT BRITAIN

• NCJ Number: 65382
• Author(s): P STEVENS; C F WILLIS
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 74 pages
• Corporate Author: Great Britain Home Office
• Sale Source: Her Majesty's Stationery Office
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: HOME OFFICE RESEARCH STUDY N 58

Annotation

THIS IS THE FIRST HOME OFFICE RESEARCH EFFORT TO FOCUS ON BRITISH DATA CONCERNING BLACK INVOLVEMENT WITH CRIME AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BLACK PEOPLE AND THE POLICE.

Abstract

TWO STUDIES ARE REPORTED. THE FIRST DEALS WITH RECORDED INDICTABLE CRIME RATES AND ETHNIC MINORITY PROPORTIONS IN THE MAJOR CONURBATIONS IN ENGLAND FOR 1971. THE SECOND IS A STUDY OF ARRESTS IN THE METROPOLITAN POLICE DISTRICT (MPD) OF LONDON IN 1975. THE FORMER STUDY CONCENTRATES ON 7 MAJOR CONURBATIONS WHICH CONTAINED 76.6 PERCENT OF THE WEST INDIAN AND 61.6 PERCENT OF THE ASIAN IMMIGRANTS RESIDENT IN BRITAIN. TOTAL RECORDED INDICTABLE CRIME FOR 1971, OBTAINED FROM POLICE RECORDS, WAS CORRELATED WITH THE POPULATION PROPORTIONS OF BOTH MINORITY GROUPS IN THE CONURBATIONS AS UNITS, IN THE POLICE DIVISIONS IN ALL CONURBATIONS, AND IN THE POLICE DIVISIONS WITHIN LONDON. RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE PRESENCE OF WEST INDIANS OR ASIANS IN A COMMUNITY IS IRRELEVANT TO RECORDED INDICTABLE CRIME RATES. THE SECOND STUDY, CONCENTRATING ON MPD, INVESTIGATED COMPARATIVE RATES OF CRIMINALITY IN MEMBERS OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS. POLICE RECORDS WERE USED TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ON THE RACIAL IDENTIFICATION ON INDIVIDUALS ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT, ROBBERY, AND OTHER VIOLENT THEFT. THE ARREST RATE FOR BLACKS WAS HIGHER THAN THAT FOR WHITES IN EVERY CATEGORY OF CRIME, WHILE THE ASIAN RATE WAS ABOUT THE SAME AS THE WHITE RATE. THE OVERREPRESENTATION OF BLACKS IN CRIME WAS ANALYZED FOR POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS AND WAS FOUND TO HINGE ON DEMOGRAPHIC, SOCIOECONOMIC, AND ETHNIC FACTORS. BLACKS ARE OVERREPRESENTED IN THAT THEY ARE ESPECIALLY ARREST-PRONE, PARTICULARLY THE YOUNG, THE UNEMPLOYED, AND PERSONS ON LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS. MOREOVER, THERE IS A GREATER DIFFERENTIAL LIKELIHOOD FOR POLICE TO ARREST BLACKS. POSSIBLE STATISTICAL DISTORTIONS, SUCH AS CRIME UNDERREPORTING, AND UNIDENTIFIED VARIABLES, ARE DISCUSSED. APPENDED ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF DATA AND METHODS, CALCULATION OF ARREST RATES FOR ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE MPD, MAPS, DETAILS OF THE ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ARREST RATES AND DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE MPD, HYPOTHETICAL CLEARUP RATES AND MISTAKEN ARREST RATES FOR BLACKS AND WHITES, AND ETHNIC MINORITY UNEMPLOYMENT RATES. FOOTNOTES ARE INCLUDED, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (MRK)