Policing: Innocent Bias

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PolicingInnocent Bias

• Dr. Matt Robinson
• CJ 3532
• Injustice in America
• Appalachian State University

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Innocent Bias

• Even if every police officer followed the IACP
  mandates and was good cop
• There would still be a bias in policing!
• If the criminal law is biased, then enforcement
  of it will be biased.

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Innocent Bias

• Innocent bias occurs when police enforce biased
  law
• It is innocent because it is not intentional on
  their part

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Innocent Bias

• Sources of innocent bias include
• 1) Focus on street crime
• 2) Location of police
• 3) Discretion
• 4) Profiling
• 5) War on drugs

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Innocent Bias

• 1) Focus on street crime
• These acts are disproportionately committed by
  the powerless (poor, minorities)
• Street criminals much more likely to be arrested
  than white-collar and corporate offenders

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Innocent Bias

• 2) Location of police
• Greater police presence in large cities,
  inner-city areas, neighborhoods with high levels
  of poverty and minority residence
• social threat or minority threat hypothesis
  more police officers in minority areas

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Innocent Bias

• 3) Discretion
• The ability of police to act according to their
  professional judgment
• Race and class are used as warning signs
• Decisions about who to stop, pull over, and
  suspect of criminal activity are informed by
  images of crime created by the criminal law and
  broadcast in the news media. (p. 181)
• So what does the typical criminal look like?

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Innocent Bias
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Innocent Bias

• 4) Profiling
• Use of race, class, other extra-legal factors
  to identify potential suspects
• Outcomes people of color more likely to be
  stopped, questioned, searched, and have car
  searched
• BUT only slightly more likely to be arrested (see
  pp. 182-184)

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Innocent Bias

• 4) Profiling
• Verified in at least the following states
  California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois,
  Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,
  Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North
  Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode
  Island, Texas, Washington

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Racial Profiling found in studies
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http//www.amnestyusa.org/us-human-rights/other/ra
cial-profling---laws-in-your-state/page.do?id1106
665
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Innocent Bias

• 5) War on drugs
• African Americans make up12 of population and
  roughly 35 of arrests for drug offenses
• The 2007 NSDUH found pastmonth drug use rates of
  9.5 for blacks versus 8.2 for whites (in 2001
  the rates for blacks and whites were 6.9 and
  6.8, respectively).

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Innocent Bias

• 5) War on drugs
• Seattle, WA two-thirds of arrestees are black
  even though the only drug for which blacks make
  up a majority of dealers is crack cocaine
• The majority of those involved in dealing
  methamphetamine, ecstasy, powder cocaine, and
  heroin are white

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Innocent Bias

• 5) War on drugs
• Racial disparity in arrests due to three
  organizational factors
• 1) explicit focus by police on crack offenders
• 2) explicit focus by police on outdoor drug
  activity
• 3) racially diverse outdoor drug markets received
  more attention by police than predominantly white
  outdoor drug markets.

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Outcomes

• Certain people are more likely to be
• Stopped
• Questioned
• Detained
• Arrested
• Subjected to excessive force
• The same people are less likely to
• Have favorable view of police
• Cooperate with police
• Assist police