 |
  |
|
 |
Volume 3 Issue 1, May 2008 |
Taking a Closer Look at NYPD Pedestrian Stops for Racial Bias
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) stopped a half-million pedestrians because of suspected criminal involvement in 2006. Raw statistics for these encounters suggest large racial disparities, but do the data also indicate racial bias? Answering that question requires going beyond the raw statistics and carefully analyzing the data. The NYPD specifically asked the RAND Corporation’s Center on Quality Policing to conduct such an analysis of the data and address whether the racial distribution of the stops suggests racial bias, whether certain officers seem to be disproportionately stopping nonwhites, and whether there are unexplained racial differences after the stops in the rates of frisk, search, recovery of contraband, use of force, and arrest. The study found that the raw statistics, while easy to compute, distort the picture of race and policing in New York. Comparing the racial distribution of stops to three commonly used benchmarks—the racial distribution of New York residents, NYPD arrestees, and reported crime suspect descriptions—does not yield robust findings; rather, it generates very different results based on the same raw data. More »
Community Policing in Oakland: Progress Under Measure Y
In response to rising crime and violence, Oakland voters passed the Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act of 2004, more commonly referred to as Measure Y. With a nearly $20 million annual investment, Measure Y is a 10-year initiative designed to facilitate community policing, foster violence prevention, and improve fire and paramedic service. The legislation set aside funding for an independent evaluation of the progress being made toward reaching these goals, and RAND and Berkeley Policy Associates (BPA) were funded to assess the progress of the programs funded by Measure Y for the community policing and violence-prevention components. The community-policing component of Measure Y provides funding for 63 new police officers, as well as their equipment and training. Early evidence from our assessment of the implementation of the Measure Y community-policing program is not altogether positive. The deployment of problem-solving officers (PSOs) is the cornerstone of the community-policing initiative. Unfortunately, the deployment has been delayed because of a lack of available PSOs and has been frustrated by a lack of equipment and training, frequent transfers of officers out of their beats, and infringement on the PSOs’ time. It appears that a combination of financial constraints and administrative challenges has undermined this implementation. It is unclear whether the current reorganization of the Oakland Policed Department (OPD) will improve the department’s focus on community policing or will further compromise its implementation by diverting discretionary resources into the reorganization effort. Our research found that PSOs can make a positive difference in the neighborhoods they serve when they are given time to establish relationships with the residents and time to do their jobs. This suggests that the city should make finding ways to fully implement and adequately support the deployment of its PSOs a priority. More » |
|
|
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND Quality Policing Highlights is distributed by the Center on Quality Policing, a part of RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment. We respect your privacy. To subscribe or to stop receiving this newsletter, please email CQP@rand.org. We encourage you to forward this newsletter to colleagues and friends. Copyright © 2008 RAND Corporation. RAND® is a registered trademark. RAND Corporation • 1776 Main Street • Santa Monica, CA 90401-3208 • Tel: 310-393-0411 |