tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/racial-bias-in-policing-29412/articlesRacial bias in policing – The Conversation2023-04-18T19:37:41Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2014432023-04-18T19:37:41Z2023-04-18T19:37:41ZData shows that police-involved deaths in Canada are on the rise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520307/original/file-20230411-16-wv178s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C8%2C5964%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman holds a sign during a demonstration calling for police accountability in Vancouver in May 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fatal encounters with police <a href="https://trackinginjustice.ca/analysis-increase-in-deaths-and-racial-disparities/">are on the rise in Canada</a>. The number of civilians dying in incidents with police when force is used has steadily increased since 2000. This is leaving families and communities with little support or recourse for accountability. </p>
<p>We are members of the <a href="https://trackinginjustice.ca/">Tracking (In)Justice project</a> documenting and analyzing police-involved deaths when force is used in Canada. Tracking (In)Justice is a partnership of academics and advocates who aim to shed light on police violence to help inform calls for accountability, transparency and changes to policing. </p>
<p>Gathering this information gives us the ability to ask new questions, such as why some police forces kill people more frequently than others. It also allows us to inform policy designed to address issues of police accountability.</p>
<p>There have been <a href="https://www.ccja-acjp.ca/pub/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2021/08/Full-Report-PUF.pdf">longstanding calls for police and governments to collect and share data</a> about incidents where the use of force caused civilian injury and death. Journalists, academics, civil society groups and victims’ families have been engaged in this work for a long time. </p>
<p>However, no centralized, updated data set exists that tracks deaths and provides information about the person, location, implicated police service, type of force used and many other contextual details. Much of what we rely on to understand these cases are “official” documents like <a href="https://wayback.archive-it.org/16312/20210402050708/http:/www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/police_oversight_review/">police or oversight body media releases</a>, that contain limited details and only tell a one-sided police narrative.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519093/original/file-20230403-18-obe9t8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C40%2C2968%2C2142&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A police officer wearing a protective vest with RCMP written on their shirt sleeve." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519093/original/file-20230403-18-obe9t8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C40%2C2968%2C2142&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519093/original/file-20230403-18-obe9t8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519093/original/file-20230403-18-obe9t8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519093/original/file-20230403-18-obe9t8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519093/original/file-20230403-18-obe9t8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519093/original/file-20230403-18-obe9t8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519093/original/file-20230403-18-obe9t8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There have been longstanding calls for police and governments to collect and share data about incidents where the use of force caused injury and death to civilians.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Tracking fatalities</h2>
<p><a href="https://trackinginjustice.ca/analysis-increase-in-deaths-and-racial-disparities/">Our preliminary findings</a> indicate that use-of-force incidents are on the rise, with the highest number occurring in 2022. Some of this long-term trend may be due to increased access to information about police-involved killings and deaths. But access to information alone does not explain the striking increase in recent years.</p>
<p>According to Tracking (In)Justice data, there was an average of 22.7 police-involved deaths between 2000-2010. In comparison, an average of 37.8 people died every year between 2011-2022. That represents a 66.5 per cent increase.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521709/original/file-20230418-26-45xpwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A chart showing police-involved deaths between 2000-2022 increasing from around 20 in 2000 to around 70 in 2022." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521709/original/file-20230418-26-45xpwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521709/original/file-20230418-26-45xpwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521709/original/file-20230418-26-45xpwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521709/original/file-20230418-26-45xpwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521709/original/file-20230418-26-45xpwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521709/original/file-20230418-26-45xpwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521709/original/file-20230418-26-45xpwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A chart from Tracking (In)Justice showing the number of police-involved deaths when force was used per year between 2000-2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://trackinginjustice.ca/analysis-increase-in-deaths-and-racial-disparities/">(Tracking (In)Justice)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Shooting deaths also appear to be occurring with greater frequency. Tracking (In)Justice documented 704 deaths in Canada from 2000 to 2022 where police force was used. The data includes deaths from police shootings and instances where a person died after being subjected to other types of police weapons (e.g. tasers) or physical interventions (e.g. restraints). </p>
<p>This data was compiled by accessing publicly available information from media and official reports. The data includes information related to the victim, including name, age and race when known. It also documents the location of death, involved police and the highest level of force used.</p>
<h2>Tracking racial data and shooting deaths</h2>
<p>Following <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/TPS%20Inquiry_Interim%20Report%20EN%20FINAL%20DESIGNED%20for%20remed_3_0.pdf#overlay-context=en/news_centre/ohrc-interim-report-toronto-police-service-inquiry-shows-disturbing-results">longstanding patterns of inequity</a>, there are persistent racial disparities within the overall increase in police-involved deaths when force is used. </p>
<p>According to the data we’ve collected, Black and Indigenous people are killed at disproportionate numbers relative to their population size. According to the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/dq221026b-eng.htm">most recent Statistics Canada census data</a>, Indigenous people make up 6.1 per cent of Canada’s population and Black people comprise 4.3 per cent.</p>
<p>Tracking (In)Justice data shows that 112 of the deceased were identified by police or other authorities as Indigenous, and 54 were identified as Black since 2000. These numbers represent 16.2 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively. More than 240 people were identified as white. However, it should be noted that a significant number of unknowns exist, as race is often not reported on public documents. </p>
<p>Racial disparities are further reflected in the numbers specific to police-involved shooting deaths. People identified by police or other authorities as Black represent 8.7 per cent of the total number, while people identified as Indigenous represent 18.5 per cent. </p>
<p>Together, Black and Indigenous people comprise around 10 per cent of the population in Canada, yet account for 27.2 per cent of police-involved shooting deaths when the race of the victim has been identified.</p>
<h2>Deaths by jurisdiction and police service</h2>
<p><a href="https://trackinginjustice.ca/analysis-jurisdiction-and-force/">Most provinces and territories</a> have seen increases of 30 per cent or higher in police-related deaths since 2010. </p>
<p>Overall, Ontario has the most deaths at 224, followed by British Columbia at 141, Alberta at 121, Québec at 115, Manitoba at 38 and Saskatchewan at 29. The remaining provinces and territories have experienced nine or fewer deaths since 2000. New Brunswick and Nunavut experienced one death each between 2000 and 2010, followed by a spike of seven deaths each between 2011 and 2022. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520601/original/file-20230412-26-s79oqg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Toronto police cruiser parked on a roadside" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520601/original/file-20230412-26-s79oqg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520601/original/file-20230412-26-s79oqg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520601/original/file-20230412-26-s79oqg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520601/original/file-20230412-26-s79oqg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520601/original/file-20230412-26-s79oqg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520601/original/file-20230412-26-s79oqg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520601/original/file-20230412-26-s79oqg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the municipal level, the Toronto Police Service is implicated in the greatest number of deaths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Three police services — Toronto, Peel and Montréal — were implicated in two-thirds of the deaths of Black-identified people. The RCMP is implicated in more than half of Indigenous deaths, at 57 out of 112. Some of this long-term trend may be due to increased access to information about police-involved killings and deaths. But access to information alone does not explain the striking increase in the past three years. </p>
<h2>Calls for accountability</h2>
<p>Tracking (In)Justice is a living data set and a work-in-progress. We are actively working to expand the data, including identifying whether the person killed was labelled by police as a “<a href="https://www.ciddd.ca/documents/phasetwo/police_encounters_with_people_in_crisis.pdf">person in crisis</a>.” This is a problematic and ableist category, which may give us insight into the ways people labelled with disabilities are impacted by police violence. </p>
<p>The data also does not include incidents where police were present, but force was not necessarily used, such as during falls, vehicle crashes or deaths in custody. </p>
<p>What is also missing is the impact on families when their loved one is killed by police. When someone has a family member killed, they cannot access <a href="https://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/serv/vsc-svc.html">victim services</a>, as the loved one is not considered a victim. They may never know the name of the person responsible for killing their loved one and may have to pay out-of-pocket legal fees in their efforts to seek justice. </p>
<p>Family members may also never get access to coroner’s reports, oversight investigation reports or even their deceased family member’s belongings. They are often unjustly provided little assistance to navigate systems in their pursuit of justice. </p>
<p>There is increasing attention being brought to bear on police violence and racial injustice in the Canadian criminal justice system. Our project’s findings support long-standing calls for accountability, transparency and scrutiny of police conduct in Canada. Much more work still needs to be done.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201443/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Crosby receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander McClelland receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya L. Sharpe receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Anti-Racism Directorate, Ministry of the Solicitor General.</span></em></p>There have been longstanding calls for police and governments to collect and share data about incidents where the use of force caused injury and death to civilians.Andrew Crosby, Postdoctoral fellow, School of Planning, University of WaterlooAlexander McClelland, Assistant Professor, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Carleton UniversityTanya L. Sharpe, Associate Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, Founder & Director of The Centre for Research & Innovation for Black Survivors of Homicide Victims, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1815462023-02-03T13:30:10Z2023-02-03T13:30:10ZPolice traffic stops can alienate communities and lead to violent deaths like Tyre Nichols’ – is it time to rethink them?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507965/original/file-20230202-14530-1p6zzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3671%2C2082&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The fatal beating of Tyre Nichols started after he was pulled over by cops.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MemphisPoliceForceInvestigation/f7da78aa167a423a8fa327e1703219f7/photo?Query=Tyre%20Nichols%20officers&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=300&currentItemNo=103">City of Memphis via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/26/us/tyre-nichols-timeline-investigation/index.html">killing of Tyre Nichols</a> has raised questions about the use and risks of a routine part of U.S. policing: the traffic stop.</p>
<p>Nichols died in the hospital on Jan. 10, 2022, from injuries sustained in a <a href="https://www.memphistn.gov/news/video-footage-of-incident-between-tyre-nichols-and-memphis-police-department/">beating by five officers</a> three days earlier. The violence occurred after the 29-year-old Black man was <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/tyre-nichols-memphis-police-reckless-driving-b2270667.html">pulled over while driving in Memphis, Tennessee</a>. The officers, all of whom are also Black, have since been fired and face charges of second-degree murder.</p>
<p>While not all traffic stops result in violent encounters – indeed <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3355119">studies suggest</a> that relatively few do – the case of Nichols highlights that such encounters can become sites of police violence. And this isn’t an isolated incident. Before Nichols came <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61123590">Patrick Lyoya</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/20/us/philando-castile-shooting-dashcam/index.html">Philando Castile</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/07/us/sandra-bland-brian-encinia.html">Sandra Bland</a>, to name just a few high-profile cases. All were killed by police in incidents that began with a traffic stop.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2HBudoEAAAAJ&hl=en">We have</a> analyzed a data set of <a href="https://scholars.org/brief/what-20-million-traffic-stops-reveal-about-policing-and-race-america">more than 20 million traffic stops</a> as part of research into the effectiveness of this routine part of police life. What <a href="https://sppga.ubc.ca/profile/megan-dias/">we have found</a> is that, even by its own standards, the return on this high-contact form of policing is slim – it <a href="https://fbaum.unc.edu/papers/APSA_2022_PoliticsOfPolicing.pdf">rarely leads to criminal charges or convictions</a>. Moreover, the negative consequences are far-reaching. Law enforcement traffic stops are prone to racial bias and cause harm to communities and individuals disproportionate to any benefit that they bring, <a href="https://fbaum.unc.edu/articles/PGI-2016-Targeting.pdf">our research suggests</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Broken taillight’ theory?</h2>
<p>Traffic stops represent the <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpp08.pdf">most common nonvoluntary interaction</a> between citizens and police officers in the U.S. Every year, around <a href="https://fbaum.unc.edu/papers/APSA_2022_PoliticsOfPolicing.pdf">20 million stops are recorded</a>.</p>
<p>Some of these stops are for legitimate public safety reasons – drunken drivers, for example, are an obvious risk to other road users. But police officers have huge discretion when it comes to conducting traffic stops for a whole slew of driving infractions, from a broken taillight to speeding. They can also, in most states, initiate a traffic stop as the pretext to investigating other crimes. This right was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1996 in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1995/95-5841">Whren vs. United States</a>. The ruling stated that it is not unconstitutional for officers to use any traffic violation, no matter how minor, as a reason to search the vehicle for other suspected crimes – for example, the possession of illegal drugs – if they have reasonable cause.</p>
<p>These <a href="https://academic.udayton.edu/race/03justice/s98oday.htm">pretextual stops</a>, stopping cars for minor infractions as an opportunity to look for evidence of drug-related or violent crime, can be thought of as the roadside equivalent to “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/stop_and_frisk">stop and frisk</a>” – the practice of allowing officers to search someone on the streets if they have “reasonable” suspicion of criminal activity.</p>
<p>Both form part of what is called the “<a href="https://cebcp.org/evidence-based-policing/what-works-in-policing/research-evidence-review/broken-windows-policing/">broken windows” theory</a> of policing. This idea, which rose to prominence in the 1990s, holds that minor instances of disorder in a neighborhood create an environment that will eventually lead to more serious instances of crime, and that by focusing on smaller infractions police can root out more serious offenses.</p>
<p>The SCORPION unit that pulled over Nichols exemplifies the type of high-contact, proactive, and aggressive policing that often characterizes broken windows tactics. The officers who killed Nichols <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/tyre-nichols-video-assault-cops.html">gave him more than 70 orders in just a few minutes</a>.</p>
<p>Broken windows policing has long been <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2019/05/15/northeastern-university-researchers-find-little-evidence-for-broken-windows-theory-say-neighborhood-disorder-doesnt-cause-crime/">debunked by many criminologists</a> who find that it fails to achieve its objectives, at the detriment of communities. Our research suggests that traffic stops yield few results when it comes to serious crimes. <a href="https://fbaum.unc.edu/papers/APSA_2022_PoliticsOfPolicing.pdf">Analysis of 9.5 million traffic stops</a> in North Carolina between 2013 and 2019 shows that just 1.2% led to felony charges. The felony conviction rate resulting from pulling over a driver was 0.23%.</p>
<h2>Driving while Black</h2>
<p>While the effectiveness of traffic stops as a tool to apprehend serious criminals appears tenuous at best, what is clear is that pulling over drivers has the <a href="https://fbaum.unc.edu/articles/PGI-2016-Targeting.pdf">potential for negative</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-killings-traffic-stops-takeaways.html">sometimes violent, outcomes</a> – <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/traffic-stops-are-flashpoint-policing-america-reformers-are-winning-big-n1280594">especially for Black drivers</a>.</p>
<p>It can also affect entire communities. Ferguson, Missouri, is just one well-known example of how widespread racially biased traffic stops can <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf">erode trust in the police</a>.</p>
<p>In places like Ferguson, evidence has shown that intensely policing minor traffic infractions, while legally permissible, can <a href="https://www.npr.org/2014/08/25/343143937/in-ferguson-court-fines-and-fees-fuel-anger">drown communities in fines, fees and administrative burdens</a>. And Ferguson isn’t alone. Funds from penalty fines are used to help fund police and local governments across the U.S. A 2019 study found that in 600 jurisdictions across the U.S. <a href="https://www.governing.com/archive/fine-fee-revenues-special-report.html">fines made up more than 10% of funds</a>. In almost half of those governments, money from ticketing accounted for more than 20% of funding.</p>
<p>This financial burden falls disproportionately on Black drivers. A <a href="http://nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-ticket-quotas-money-funding.html">2021 New York Times analysis</a> of 4,000 traffic citations handed out in Newburgh Heights, Ohio, a small town just south of Cleveland, found that 76% of license and insurance violations and 63% of speeding tickets were handed to Black drivers. Black residents made up just 22% of the town’s population.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Demonstrators gather on a street, one crying out and the other with a face mask with 'defund MPD' written on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506925/original/file-20230128-16-f1lyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506925/original/file-20230128-16-f1lyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506925/original/file-20230128-16-f1lyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506925/original/file-20230128-16-f1lyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506925/original/file-20230128-16-f1lyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506925/original/file-20230128-16-f1lyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506925/original/file-20230128-16-f1lyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Release of video footage of Tyre Nichols’ beating has sparked protests.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MemphisPoliceTyreNicholsWashington/350e3ec761224f99bdbaacbf65249747/photo?Query=tyre%20nichols&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=247&currentItemNo=114">P Photo/Carolyn Kaste</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Racial bias has <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2020/may/black-drivers-more-likely-to-be-stopped-by-police.html">long accompanied traffic stops</a>. In the largest study of its kind, Stanford researchers in 2020 analyzed 100 million traffic stops and concluded that “persistent racial bias” existed. The study found that during daylight hours Black drivers are more likely to be pulled over than their white counterparts. But at nighttime, when the “<a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2020/05/05/veil-darkness-reduces-racial-bias-traffic-stops/">veil of darkness</a>” makes it harder for officers to racially identify drivers, white drivers are stopped more often than Black drivers.</p>
<p>This concurs with our own findings on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2016.1160413">traffic stop data from North Carolina</a>: Black men are far more likely to be searched by cops than their white counterparts – at a rate of just under two to one – despite being less likely to be found with any illegal substances.</p>
<p>Traffic stops can also be a precursor to violent and deadly encounters, such as in the case of Nichols’ killing. The New York Times in 2021 found that over a five-year period, police officers in the U.S. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/us/police-traffic-stops-killings.html">killed more than 400 drivers or passengers</a> not brandishing a gun or knife and not being pursued over a violent crime. Black Americans were disproportionately represented among those killed by officers, the newspaper found.</p>
<h2>Taking a new route</h2>
<p>Using the traffic code to raise funds for jurisdictions or as a pretext to investigate serious crime produces only dubious public safety benefits and comes at a heavy costs, research indicates. </p>
<p>It has prompted <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/09/03/police-pretext-traffic-stops-need-to-end-some-lawmakers-say">some policymakers to look at other options</a>, such as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/traffic-stops-are-flashpoint-policing-america-reformers-are-winning-big-n1280594">scaling back the types of infractions</a> that can provide a basis for a traffic stop. In 2020, Virginia became the first state to <a href="https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?202+sum+HB5058">ban officers from conducting traffic stops for low-level violations</a>, such as a broken taillight or illegal tinted windows. A year earlier, the <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-supreme-court-bans-police-officers-random-questions/">Oregon Supreme Court ruled</a> that it is impermissible for police officers to use a routine traffic stop as a springboard for broader criminal investigations by asking if they can search a vehicle without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.</p>
<p>Such moves will limit the number of interactions police have with motorists. They could also save lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The case of Tyre Nichols highlights how traffic stops can turn deadly. Traffic stops are also prone to racial bias, can break down community trust in police and yield few results, research shows.Derek Epp, Assistant professor in the Department of Government, The University of Texas at AustinMegan Dias, PhD Candidate, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1733342021-12-13T03:04:00Z2021-12-13T03:04:00ZNew technology lets police link DNA to appearance and ancestry – and it’s coming to Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436718/original/file-20211209-27-syhopf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C2%2C1899%2C1074&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helmut Straisil / Pixabay / James Hereward / Caitlin Curtis</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Federal Police recently <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/advanced-technology-allows-afp-predict-criminal-profiles-dna">announced</a> plans to use DNA samples collected at crime scenes to make predictions about potential suspects.</p>
<p>This technology, called forensic “DNA phenotyping”, can reveal a surprising and growing amount of highly personal information from the traces of DNA that we all leave behind, everywhere we go – including information about our biological sex, ancestry and appearance.</p>
<p>Queensland police have already used versions of this approach to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/drawing-an-offenders-face-from-a-drop-of-blood-20161118-gss377.html">identify a suspect</a> and <a href="https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/news/2020/08/19/police-renew-appeal-to-identify-deceased-man-found-at-nambour-in-2008/">identify remains</a>. Forensic services in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00450618.2020.1781251">Queensland</a> and <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2020.568701/full">New South Wales</a> have also investigated the use of predictive DNA.</p>
<p>This technology can reveal much more about a suspect than previous DNA forensics methods. But how does it work? What are the ethical issues? And what approaches are other countries around the world taking?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dna-facial-prediction-could-make-protecting-your-privacy-more-difficult-94740">DNA facial prediction could make protecting your privacy more difficult</a>
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<h2>How does it work?</h2>
<p>The AFP plans to implement forensic DNA phenotyping based on an underlying technology called “massively parallel sequencing”. </p>
<p>Our genetic information is encoded in our DNA as long strings of four different base molecules, and sequencing is the process of “reading” the sequence of these bases. </p>
<p>Older DNA sequencing machines could only read one bit of DNA at a time, but current “massively parallel” machines can read more than <em>six trillion</em> DNA bases in a <a href="https://sapac.illumina.com/science/technology/next-generation-sequencing.html">single run</a>. This creates new possibilities for DNA analysis.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436846/original/file-20211210-140109-gsqlie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436846/original/file-20211210-140109-gsqlie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436846/original/file-20211210-140109-gsqlie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436846/original/file-20211210-140109-gsqlie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436846/original/file-20211210-140109-gsqlie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436846/original/file-20211210-140109-gsqlie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436846/original/file-20211210-140109-gsqlie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Massively parallel DNA sequencing has opened new frontiers for genetic analysis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>DNA forensics used to rely on a system that matched samples to ones in a criminal DNA database, and did not reveal much beyond identity. However, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1355030617301156">predictive DNA forensics</a> can reveal things like physical appearance, biological sex and ancestry – regardless of whether people are in a database or not. </p>
<p>This makes it <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25716572/">useful</a> in <a href="https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/sites/default/files/National%20DNA%20Program%20for%20Unidentified%20and%20Missing%20Persons%20%20Forensic%20Techniques.pdf">missing persons cases</a> and the investigation of <a href="https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/sites/default/files/National%20DNA%20Program%20for%20Unidentified%20and%20Missing%20Persons%20%20Forensic%20Techniques.pdf">unidentified remains</a>. This method can also be used in criminal cases, mostly to exclude persons of interest. </p>
<p>The AFP plans to predict biological sex, “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369848614000570">biogeographical ancestry</a>”, eye colour and, in coming months, hair colour. Over the <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/advanced-technology-allows-afp-predict-criminal-profiles-dna">next decade</a> they aim to include traits such as age, body mass index, and height, and even finer predictions for facial metrics such as distance between the eyes, eye, nose and ear shape, lip fullness, and cheek structure. </p>
<h2>Are there any issues or ethical concerns?</h2>
<p>DNA can reveal highly sensitive information about us. Beyond ancestry and externally visible characteristics, we can predict many other things including aspects of both <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-018-0030-8">physical</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/mp200833">mental</a> health.</p>
<p>It will be important to set clear boundaries around what can and can’t be predicted in these tests – and when and how they will be used. Despite some progress toward a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1872497318301418">privacy impact assessment</a>, Australian forensic legislation does not currently provide any form of comprehensive <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00450618.2019.1569132">regulation of forensic DNA phenotyping</a>.</p>
<p>The highly sensitive nature of DNA data, and the difficulty in ever making it <a href="https://theconversation.com/dramatic-advances-in-forensics-expose-the-need-for-genetic-data-legislation-105397">anonymous</a> creates significant <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29554642/">privacy</a> concerns. </p>
<p>According to a 2020 government survey about <a href="https://www.oaic.gov.au/engage-with-us/research/australian-community-attitudes-to-privacy-survey-2020-landing-page/2020-australian-community-attitudes-to-privacy-survey">public attitudes to privacy</a>, most Australians are uncomfortable with the idea of their DNA data being collected.</p>
<p>Using DNA for forensics may also <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41436-018-0396-7">reduce public trust</a> in the use of genomics for medical and other purposes.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dramatic-advances-in-forensics-expose-the-need-for-genetic-data-legislation-105397">Dramatic advances in forensics expose the need for genetic data legislation</a>
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<p>The AFP’s planned tests include <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/advanced-technology-allows-afp-predict-criminal-profiles-dna">biogeographical ancestry prediction</a>. Even when not explicitly tested, DNA data is tightly linked to our ancestry. </p>
<p>One of the biggest risks with any DNA data is exacerbating or creating racial biases. This is especially the case in law enforcement, where <a href="https://www.visage-h2020.eu/PDF/Recommendations_for_website.pdf">specific groups of people may be targeted</a> or stigmatised based on pre-existing biases. </p>
<p>In Australia, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/after-new-allegations-indigenous-legal-expert-says-racial-profiling-by-police-is-still-very-common/bea8c809-7d38-4ce5-aae3-a066a60ea5b0">Indigenous legal experts report</a> that not enough is being done to fully eradicate racism and unconscious bias within police. Concerns have been raised about other types of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1323238X.2021.1872132">potential institutional racial profiling</a>. A recent analysis by the ANU also indicated that <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/three-in-four-people-hold-negative-view-of-indigenous-people">3 in 4 people</a> held implicit negative or unconscious bias against Indigenous Australians.</p>
<p>Careful consideration, consultation, and clear regulatory safeguards need to be in place to ensure these methods are only used to exclude persons of interest rather than include or target specific groups.</p>
<p>DNA data also has inherent risks around misinterpretation. People put a lot of <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/law-and-social-inquiry/article/abs/science-and-the-death-penalty-dna-innocence-and-the-debate-over-capital-punishment-in-the-united-states/A5A6C1FE1911211749174038A06EA4C9">trust in DNA evidence</a>, even though it often gives <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00450610609410635">probabilistic</a> findings which can be difficult to interpret.</p>
<h2>What are other countries doing?</h2>
<p>Predictive DNA forensics is a relatively new field, and countries across Europe have taken different approaches regarding how and when it should be used. A <a href="https://www.aerzteblatt.de/int/archive/article/211421">2019 study</a> across 24 European countries found ten had allowed the use of this technology for practical purposes, seven had not allowed it, and seven more had not yet made a clear determination on its use. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436894/original/file-20211210-25-pv5nkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436894/original/file-20211210-25-pv5nkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436894/original/file-20211210-25-pv5nkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436894/original/file-20211210-25-pv5nkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436894/original/file-20211210-25-pv5nkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436894/original/file-20211210-25-pv5nkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436894/original/file-20211210-25-pv5nkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">DNA-based prediction is used in some European countries and forbidden in others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.aerzteblatt.de/int/archive/article/211421">Adapted from Schneider, Prainsack & Kayser/Dtsch Arztebl Int.</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.visage-h2020.eu/PDF/Recommendations_for_website.pdf">Germany</a> allows the prediction of externally visible characteristics (including skin colour), but has decided biogeographical ancestry is simply too risky to be used. </p>
<p>The one exception to this is the state of <a href="https://www.jura.fu-berlin.de/studium/lawclinic/publikationen/Push-for-Forensic-DNA-Phenotyping_-Ancestry-Testing-in-Germany-Raises-Dicrimination-Concerns.pdf">Bavaria</a>, where ancestry can be used to avert imminent danger, but not to investigate crimes that have already occurred.</p>
<p>A UK advisory panel made four <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/biometrics-and-forensics-ethics-group-annual-report-2019/biometrics-and-forensic-ethics-group-annual-report-2019-accessible-version#commission">recommendations</a> last year. These include the need to clearly explain how the data is used, presenting ancestral and phenotypic data as probabilities so uncertainty can be evaluated, and clearly explaining how judgements would be made about when to use the technology and who would make the decision. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.visage-h2020.eu/PDF/Recommendations_for_website.pdf">VISAGE consortium</a> of academics, police and justice institutions, from eight European countries, also produced a report of recommendations and concerns in 2020. </p>
<p>They urge careful consideration of the circumstances where DNA phenotyping should be used, and the definition of a “serious crime”. They also highlight the importance of a governing body with responsibility for deciding when and how the technology should be used.</p>
<h2>Safeguarding public trust</h2>
<p>The AFP press release mentions it is mindful of maintaining public trust, and has implemented privacy processes. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6976916/">Transparency and proportionate use</a> will be crucial to keep the public on board as this technology is rolled out. </p>
<p>This is a rapidly evolving field and Australia needs to develop clear and coherent policy that is able to keep up with the pace of technological developments - and considers community concerns.</p>
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<p><em>Correction: this article originally stated that “gender” can be predicted from DNA. This has now been corrected to “biological sex”.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173334/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlin Curtis receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Hereward does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Australia Federal Police is set to start using controversial technology that predicts the ancestry and appearance of suspects from DNA samples.Caitlin Curtis, Research fellow, The University of QueenslandJames Hereward, Research fellow, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1691332021-10-05T12:25:01Z2021-10-05T12:25:01ZPolice killings of civilians in the US have been undercounted by more than half in official statistics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424296/original/file-20211002-45945-1mk8f2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C4%2C3263%2C2177&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The names of the dead.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/george-flyods-headstone-sits-front-and-center-at-the-say-news-photo/1232363923?adppopup=true">Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>The number of people killed by police officers in the U.S. has been massively underreported in official statistics over the past four decades, with an additional 17,000 deaths over that period, according to our new research. </p>
<p>Our study, which was published on Oct. 2, 2021, in The Lancet, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01609-3">compared statistics</a> from the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/index.htm">National Vital Statistics System</a>, a federal database that looks at death certificates, with data from three nongovernmental organizations that more accurately track police violence: <a href="https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/">Mapping Police Violence</a>, <a href="https://fatalencounters.org/">Fatal Encounters</a>, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database">The Counted</a>.</p>
<p>We found more than 30,000 deaths from police violence between 1980 and 2018. During that time, the National Vital Statistics System underreported fatal police violence by 55.5%.</p>
<p>The figures confirm that fatal police violence in the United States <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821204116">disproportionately affects</a> Black, Indigenous and Hispanic people compared with white Americans. Black Americans were 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white Americans over the study period. Indigenous and Hispanic Americans were nearly twice as likely to be killed at the hands of law enforcement as white Americans.</p>
<p>Since 1980, the racial disparities in rates of fatal police violence have remained largely unchanged or worsened in some cases, according to our figures.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Police violence, like all violence, can be prevented.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/opinions/systemic-racism-police-evidence-criminal-justice-system/">systemic racism that drives police violence</a> is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02145-0">a threat to public health</a>. We hope that our estimates of the underreporting of police violence will spur improvements to the accurate reporting of police violence in the death investigation system.</p>
<p>This study was one of the longest of its kind and covers all 50 states by race and ethnicity. As such, we also hope the comprehensive estimates as well as the existing nongovernmental data can be used for targeted, meaningful changes to policing and public safety that will prevent loss of life by highlighting areas of concern.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>This paper does not calculate or address <a href="https://thecrimereport.org/2021/01/06/data-lacking-on-non-fatal-shootings-by-police/">non-fatal injuries</a> attributed to police violence, police officers killed by civilians, police violence in overseas U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, or residents who may have been harmed by military police in the United States or abroad.</p>
<p>Because this study relied on death certificates, which only allow for a binary designation of sex, we were unable to estimate fatal police violence against non-cisgender people, potentially masking the disproportionately high rates of <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/6/23/21295432/police-black-trans-people-violence">violence against trans people</a>, particularly Black trans people. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Next, our research group is working on a publication on global fatal violence to increase the body of literature on violence as a public health issue.</p>
<p>We also will continue to review police violence estimates produced by the <a href="http://www.healthdata.org/gbd/2019">Global Burden of Disease</a> study for all locations to improve reporting on this cause of death.</p>
<p>Finally, we will work to improve cause of death data quality to make the best information available for public health interventions.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. These sources of funding can be found in the research article</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. These sources of funding can be found in the research article. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The sources of funding can also be found in the published research article.</span></em></p>Research found that police officers killed more than 30,000 people from 1980 to 2018 – 17,000 more than official federal data suggests.Moshen Naghavi, Professor of Health Metric Science at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of WashingtonEve Wool, Research Manager at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of WashingtonFablina Sharara, Researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1596182021-04-30T12:16:16Z2021-04-30T12:16:16ZAmerican cities have long struggled to reform their police – but isolated success stories suggest community and officer buy-in might be key<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397951/original/file-20210429-19-p9sccl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5375%2C3769&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting police and community on board with reforms is crucial for success.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-carrying-a-portrait-of-george-floyd-looks-on-at-a-news-photo/1231586015?adppopup=true">Stephen Maturen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/trial-over-killing-of-george-floyd/2021/04/20/987777911/court-says-jury-has-reached-verdict-in-derek-chauvins-murder-trial">guilty verdicts delivered against Derek Chauvin</a> on April 20, 2021, represented a landmark moment – but courtroom justice cannot deliver the sweeping changes <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/315962/americans-say-policing-needs-major-changes.aspx">most Americans feel are needed</a> to improve policing in the U.S. </p>
<p>As America continues to grapple with racism and police killings, federal action over police reform has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/29/congress-to-hold-police-reform-legislation-talk-as-george-floyd-act-stalls.html">stalled</a> in Congress. But at the state level <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/legislative-responses-for-policing.aspx">there is movement</a> and steps toward reform are underway in many U.S. cities, including <a href="https://www.davisvanguard.org/2021/04/philadelphia-da-throws-weight-behind-police-reform/">Philadelphia</a>; <a href="https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/02/24/proposed-defunding-reforms-of-oakland-police-department-draw-mixed-reactions/">Oakland, California</a>; and <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/oregon-police-reform-bills-passed-activists-reaction/283-d1fea772-7ea5-4165-99b0-eacc7c79e995">Portland, Oregon</a>.</p>
<p>Many of <a href="https://www.axios.com/police-reform-george-floyd-protest-2150b2dd-a6dc-4a0c-a1fb-62c2e999a03a.html">these efforts</a> are geared toward ending specific practices, such as the granting of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/20/george-floyd-derek-chauvin-killer-mike-police">qualified immunity</a>, through which officers are shielded from civil lawsuits, and the use of certain <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/police-use-of-force-chokehold-carotid-ban/">police neck holds</a> and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/06/11/louisville-metro-council-votes-ban-no-knock-warrants-after-breonna-taylors-death/5342907002/">no-knock warrants</a>. Mayors and city councils nationwide have also pushed reforms emphasizing <a href="https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/police-department/news/2020/updated-policies.html">accountability and transparency</a>, with many working to create <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/07/931806105/across-the-country-voters-approve-more-civilian-oversight-for-police">independent oversight commissions</a>. </p>
<p>It’s too soon to expect substantial improvement from these recently proposed remedies. </p>
<p>But as <a href="https://aysps.gsu.edu/profile/natasha-johnson/">scholars of criminal justice</a> – one <a href="https://aysps.gsu.edu/profile/thaddeus-johnson/">a former police officer of 10 years</a> – we know America has been here before. From Ferguson to Baltimore and Oakland to Chicago, numerous city police departments have undergone transformation efforts following controversial police killings. But these and other reform movements haven’t lived up to their promises. </p>
<h2>Resisting change</h2>
<p>After the shooting death in Missouri of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html">unarmed teen Michael Brown</a> in 2014, police in Ferguson <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-missouri-ferguson-plan/ferguson-accepts-u-s-governments-police-reform-plan-idUSKCN0WH30H">agreed to a reform program</a> that included anti-bias training and an agreement to end stop, search and arrest practices that discriminate on the basis of race.</p>
<p>But five years into the process, <a href="https://forwardthroughferguson.org/stateofpolicereform/">a report by the nonprofit Forward Through Ferguson</a> found the reforms had done <a href="https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2019-09-17/ferguson-groups-report-concludes-police-in-st-louis-area-have-not-made-enough-reforms">little to change policing culture or practice</a>. This was backed up by a Ferguson Civilian Review Board <a href="https://www.fergusoncity.com/DocumentCenter/View/4244/2019-FPD-Traffic-Stops-and-Racial-Profiling-Data">report in July 2020</a> that found the “disparity in traffic stops between black and white residents appears to be growing.” </p>
<p>Similarly, concerns over the <a href="https://theappeal.org/years-after-freddie-grays-death-baltimore-police-misconduct-persists/">quality of Baltimore’s police services persist</a> despite federal oversight and reforms brought in after the <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-freddie-gray-20150419-story.html">death of Freddie Gray</a> in police custody in 2015.</p>
<p>Commentators have pointed to a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/baltimore-police-reforms-crime/2020/06/18/7d60e91e-b041-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html">resistance to change</a> among officers and an inability to garner <a href="https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/12/02/baltimore-city-residents-seek-police-accountability-measures-more-education-funding-in-next-session/">community buy-in</a> as reasons for the slowdown in progress in Baltimore. </p>
<p>Part of the problem, as seen with Baltimore, is that federal intervention does not appear to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/1098611114561305">guarantee lasting change</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12295">Research shows</a> that Department of Justice regulations aimed at reform only slightly reduce police misconduct. There is also no evidence that national efforts targeting the use of force alone <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2020.1733637">mitigate police killings</a>.</p>
<h2>Community-led reform</h2>
<p>One beacon of hope is the Cincinnati Police Department. Twenty years ago, residents in Cincinnati experienced events similar to what many cities have faced in more recent years. An unarmed Black man, <a href="https://www.fox19.com/2021/04/07/april-remembering-timothy-thomas-two-decades-later/">Timothy Thomas</a>, was shot dead by officers in 2001, sparking widespread unrest. It led Cincinnati to enter into a different model of reform: a <a href="https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/department-references/collaborative-agreement/">collaborative agreement</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A protester throws debris at Cincinnati police officers in riot gear in 2001." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397892/original/file-20210429-16-fqvmwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397892/original/file-20210429-16-fqvmwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397892/original/file-20210429-16-fqvmwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397892/original/file-20210429-16-fqvmwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397892/original/file-20210429-16-fqvmwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397892/original/file-20210429-16-fqvmwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397892/original/file-20210429-16-fqvmwy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After the death of Timothy Thomas in 2001, Cincinnati erupted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protester-throws-debris-april-10-2001-at-cincinnati-police-news-photo/800279?adppopup=true">Mike Simons/Newsmakers via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Touted by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch as <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-lynch-delivers-remarks-community-policing-roundtable-cincinnati">a national model for community-led police reform</a>, the collaborative agreement saw the police department, civic government, police unions and local civil rights groups act in partnership for a reform program backed by court supervision. </p>
<p>The resulting changes to use-of-force policies, a focus on community-based solutions to crime, and robust oversight brought about improved policing. A <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG853.html">2009 Rand evaluation</a> of the collaborative agreement found it resulted in a reduction in crime, positive changes in citizens’ attitudes toward police and fewer racially biased traffic stops. There were also <a href="https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/linkservid/97D9709F-F1C1-4A75-804C07D9873DC70F/showMeta/0/">fewer use-of-force incidents and officer and arrestee injuries</a> under the collaborative agreement.</p>
<p>But it isn’t perfect. Cincinnati’s Black residents continue to be disproportionately arrested – likely owing to the concentration of crime, service calls and police deployments in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Figures from 2018 show Black Cincinnati residents were <a href="https://jacobdkaplan.com/arrest.html#state=Ohio&agency=Cincinnati%20Police%20Department&category=all_arrests_total&subcategory=tot&subsubcategory=Race&rate=true&percent=false&monthly=false&checkbox_1=false&checkbox_2=false&checkbox_3=false&checkbox_4=false&checkbox_1=true">roughly three times</a> as likely to be arrested as their white counterparts.</p>
<p>Cincinnati’s collaborative agreement contained a number of elements that experts say are needed if police reforms are to be successful: strong leadership, flexible, goal-oriented approaches, effective oversight and externally regulated transparency.</p>
<p>Moreover, it depended on police officials’ ability to cultivate <a href="http://jlsp.law.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2017/03/46-Schatmeier.pdf">community investment</a> and overcome resistance from police officers and police unions.</p>
<p>Community confidence is <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2012.00291.x">critical to police reform and community safety</a>. When citizens view police as legitimate and trustworthy, they are more likely to report crimes, cooperate during police investigations, comply with directives and work with police to find solutions to crime.</p>
<h2>Beyond collaboration</h2>
<p>Efforts like that in Cincinnati that put community engagement at the heart of police reforms undoubtedly are strides in the right direction. But they can go only so far. A noticeable shortcoming in most police reform programs is a focus on what is the right thing to do during confrontations with the public, rather than on trying to avert those situations in the first place. </p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1086/701423">Fatal police shootings</a> often happen during police stops and arrests – situations that carry <a href="https://doi.org/10.3818/JRP.4.1.2002.87">increased risks</a> of citizen resistance and violent police response.</p>
<p>Scaling back low-level enforcement, such as arrests for vagrancy and loitering – much of which has little <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403417725370">public safety advantage</a> – and having police partner with civilian responders for mental health, homelessness and drug-related calls, could mean <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20191028">fewer opportunities for violent police encounters</a>.</p>
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<p>Some departments have begun to change their enforcement policies along these lines. The Gwinnett County Police Department in Georgia, for example, stopped making arrests and issuing citations for <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/local/gwinnett-won-issue-citations-misdemeanor-marijuana-cases/QpGuMJ8KzHp7Ula8DLVw1M/">misdemeanor marijuana possession</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108553599">2018 study</a> of traffic stops in Fayetteville, North Carolina, found that redirecting enforcement away from minor infractions – such as broken taillights and expired tags – toward the more serious violations of speeding and running traffic lights resulted in reduced crime and a narrowed racial gap in stops and searches.</p>
<h2>Removing the trigger</h2>
<p>Low-level infractions have often been the <a href="https://www.joincampaignzero.org/brokenwindows">triggers for police interventions that end in citizen deaths</a>. Eric Garner – who died in 2014 after a New York police officer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/nyregion/daniel-pantaleo-fired.html">put him in a banned chokehold</a> – was stopped for <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/loose-cigarette-arrests-in-nyc-drop-in-year-after-eric-garners-death-1436992014">selling loose cigarettes</a>.</p>
<p>Devoting less time to policing such activity would also free up officers’ time to devote to such endeavors as analyzing crime trends, conducting wellness checks on elderly residents and mentoring community youth. I (Thaddeus Johnson) felt this as a police officer on the street, and I see it as a criminal justice scholar now.</p>
<p>The examples of Cincinnati, Ferguson and Baltimore show that getting community buy-in is crucial if attempts to improve policing are to be successful. We believe that evaluating officers’ performance and rewarding them based on community-oriented activities – rather than just the number of stops and arrests – could foster the support necessary for lasting reform.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159618/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thaddeus L. Johnson is affiliated with the Council on Criminal Justice (Senior Research Fellow). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha N. Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Attempts to reform US police departments fail when they are unable to get community support. Perhaps it is time to take a different tack, argue two criminal justice scholars – one a former cop.Thaddeus L. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State UniversityNatasha N. Johnson, Clinical Instructor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1455112020-09-28T12:24:30Z2020-09-28T12:24:30ZKids’ perceptions of police fall as they age – for Black children the decline starts earlier and is constant<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360046/original/file-20200925-16-iqujoq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C5%2C3589%2C2387&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Taking a peek, but probably not seeing a future career.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/girl-holds-on-to-an-adult-as-police-in-riot-gear-stand-news-photo/1216441511?adppopup=true"> Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The deaths of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html">Breonna Taylor</a>, <a href="https://www.startribune.com/george-floyd-death-ignited-protests-far-beyond-minneapolis-police-minnesota/569930771/">George Floyd</a> and most recently <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/09/10000484/dijon-kizzee-shooting-los-angeles-police-bicycle-violation">Dijon Kizzee</a> at the hands of officers come in an age when <a href="https://twitter.com/Shjarback_CCJ/status/1298695753435684870">overpolicing and underserving</a> minority communities has, as some experts believe, resulted in a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2016.1256804">legitimacy crisis</a>” in American policing. </p>
<p>The reality is that these events are also impacting children. Youth today are growing up in what has been described as an “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-110615-085141">era of mistrust</a>” of police.</p>
<p>Across racial and ethnic groups, youths’ perceptions of police have dropped in recent years to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820903752">decades-long</a> low. Yet, the amount of the decline differs across demographic groups. In fact, Black youth report the most dramatic declines, and the gap between their perceptions and white youths’ perceptions has been increasing.</p>
<p>As scholars <a href="https://ccj.asu.edu/content/kathleen-padilla">of policing</a> and the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ORE8MtkAAAAJ&hl=en">criminal justice system</a>, we study how and when perceptions of police change during childhood and adolescence. </p>
<p>Studies have already shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.01402.x">personal politics affects how people interpret news</a>. But our research suggests this process may begin during the teenage years or even earlier. Research looking at high school seniors finds that how white youth perceive law enforcement <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235218304483">depends on their political views</a>. White students that identify as liberal or Democratic-leaning report worse perceptions of police, whereas white conservative youths report substantially better opinions of the police.</p>
<p>Yet political views do not seem to affect how Black teenagers view police. Black teenagers across the political spectrum report the most negative perceptions of police. It is perhaps not surprising that teens of color, and Black teenagers in particular, report the poorest perceptions of law enforcement – these perceptions reflect their <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/17/8261.short">lived</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2153368717734291">reality</a> where Black teenagers are often <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Presumed-Criminal-Justice-System-Postwar/dp/1479806757/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Presumed+Criminal%3A+Black+Youth+and+the+Justice+System+in+Postwar+New+York&qid=1599162579&sr=8-1">presumed criminal</a> and <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/17/8261.short">unjust police stops result</a> in stress, anxiety and depression. It also likely reflects the frequent reminders that Black teenagers have of unjust interactions between police and Black communities – through social media as well as their own experiences and those of families and friends. </p>
<p>But our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-020-09438-7">study</a> found that perceptions of law enforcement take shape at much earlier ages. We surveyed nearly 1,000 children aged 7 to 14 in Southern California. </p>
<p>At 7 years old, kids across all racial and ethnic backgrounds view law enforcement similarly in high regard.</p>
<p>However, that does not last. While white youths’ perceptions of police remain relatively stable from the ages of 7 to 14, Latino kids’ perceptions begin to drop at around 9 years old.</p>
<p><iframe id="oaZ3T" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oaZ3T/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Black children’s perceptions decline even more rapidly and consistently beginning at around 7 to 8 years old. As Black kids grow up from ages 7 to 14, their perceptions of law enforcement drop every year – we did not find an age at which Black youth one year older did not report significantly worse perceptions of law enforcement.</p>
<h2>Who’s going into law enforcement?</h2>
<p>These perceptions don’t just affect individual kids; they affect society too. While research examining youths’ intentions of entering law enforcement as a career is still in its infancy, we believe that perceptions of the police clearly matter. </p>
<p>While the racial and ethnic demographics of the United States have grown more diverse, policing has not caught up. Compared to the <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?d=ACS%205-Year%20Estimates%20Data%20Profiles&tid=ACSDP5Y2016.DP05">general public</a>, a <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/lpd16p.pdf">disproportionate majority</a> of police officers are white, non-Hispanic men, and that number is only <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/23/us/bureau-justice-statistics-race.html">growing larger</a> across departments, according to newly released federal data. This is despite <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/lasr.12423">emerging research</a> suggesting that increasing the proportion of minority officers might enhance community members’ perceptions of police and the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>But improving community relationships through increased police officer diversity is easier said than done. Systemic biased practices affect not only citizens of color; they also affect officers of color, with departments likely identifying these officers as “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098611111423738">tokens</a>.” Research has shown that their status as a minority leads to reduced opportunities for career advancement, and increased isolation and levels of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2007.12.001">stress</a>. These factors help explain why it is difficult to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870120049824">retain minority police officers once they enter law enforcement</a>, but they do not really explain why few minority individuals become police officers in the first place – and that is where we believe perceptions set in childhood come in.</p>
<h2>Where do we go from here?</h2>
<p>As the nation is engaging in critical discussions about the future of policing, part of that introspection should focus on why the pipeline of youth of color entering law enforcement is almost entirely shut off. Black officers like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/podcasts/the-daily/flint-michigan-police-officer.html">Scott Watson</a> of the City of Flint Police Department are rightfully asking as they near retirement, “Who replaces me?” </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>We don’t know who will replace Officer Watson. But biased policing and the impact it has on children’s perceptions of the police make it less likely to be a young Black person.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145511/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Fine receives funding from The Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathleen Padilla does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At age 7, Black, white and Hispanic children have a similar opinion of the police. But this increasingly turns negative by the time they are teenagers, especially for nonwhite teens.Kathleen Padilla, Graduate Student of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State UniversityAdam Fine, Assistant Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1415602020-06-29T12:09:57Z2020-06-29T12:09:57ZIn this era of protest over racism, will colleges embrace Black student activists?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344350/original/file-20200626-104538-v4w4yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will protests on campus look different after COVID-19?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/liliana-ruiz-left-and-jacqueline-ramirez-middle-join-news-photo/1222449974?adppopup=true">Al Seib/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In 2018, sociologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2AqDS98AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Ted Thornhill</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649218792579">found</a> that Black students who profess an interest in fighting racism were <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-student-activists-face-penalty-in-college-admissions-101009">less likely to get a response</a> from college admission officers than other Black students when inquiring about whether they would be a good fit for a particular college. In light of the nationwide anti-racism protests sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, when a police officer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html">knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes</a>, The Conversation reached out to Thornhill for his thoughts on whether Black activist students might be more welcome on campus now than before. The Q&A, edited for brevity, is below:</em></p>
<h2>Do you expect wider acceptance of Black activism on college campuses?</h2>
<p>Will some number of colleges and universities that did not embrace Black student activists previously do so now? Perhaps a few. However, I believe more will work, directly and indirectly, to ensure these students never set a foot on their respective campuses.</p>
<p>According to a recent Pew poll, 60% of whites <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/06/12/amid-protests-majorities-across-racial-and-ethnic-groups-express-support-for-the-black-lives-matter-movement/">support the Black Lives Matter movement</a>. That means 40% do not. Certainly, some of those whites opposed or indifferent to Black Lives Matter work in higher education. </p>
<p>And the 60% who do support Black Lives Matter is likely somewhat inflated due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem02057">social desirability bias</a>, which is when people give socially acceptable answers to research questions instead of saying how they really feel. In sum, there is good reason for Black Lives Matter student activists, especially those who have a high profile, to have reservations about the degree to which historically and predominantly white colleges and universities truly desire their presence on campus.</p>
<p>Many institutions <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/06/08/searching-meaningful-response-college-leaders-killing-george-floyd">have not even made a meaningful commitment</a> to make significant anti-racist changes. Some of the anti-racist statements that colleges and universities have made since the torture and execution of George Floyd have been described by some academics as “<a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Higher-Ed-s-Toothless/248946">toothless</a>.”</p>
<h2>Could activism actually help students?</h2>
<p>Perhaps, at some institutions. There may be a net increase in the number of enthusiastic administrators and admissions counselors. But these might be at places that were considerably further along their way to becoming truly racially diverse, equitable and inclusive – in a word – <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479822638/antiracism/">anti-racist</a>. To the extent that Black student activism is now viewed more favorably on campus, it might also depend on what kind of college we’re talking about, what part of the country it’s located in and the size and demographics of its student body.</p>
<h2>How might COVID-19 come into play?</h2>
<p>To the extent COVID-19 has increased predominantly white colleges’ and universities’ need for the tuition revenue generated by Black and brown bodies – whether in physical or virtual seats – they may accept a greater number of Black students than is typical for them. Still, while admission counselors are reviewing students’ files, I would expect that many will still view most favorably those Black students who are the least explicit about being racially conscious.</p>
<p>Some Black students may choose to hide their activism because they understand that most whites, including admissions counselors, likely view it in a negative light. In this instance, they would be doing so tactically, solely for the purposes of gaining admittance. Still, I suspect that Black students who are the most committed to Black Lives Matter activism will refuse to hide or downplay their activism.</p>
<p>Lastly, just because colleges might operate fully or largely online in the fall due to COVID-19, does not mean that racism will magically <a href="https://theconversation.com/authorities-are-yanking-the-legacy-of-slaveholder-john-c-calhoun-from-public-sphere-but-his-bigotry-remains-embedded-in-american-society-140917">disappear from higher education</a>. Racism is as likely to appear in the virtual classroom – and other parts of college that move online – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2016.1214296">as it did on the physical campus</a>, so anti-racist activism will likely have to take place in the digital realm as well.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141560/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ted Thornhill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A 2018 study found that Black activist students were less likely to get a response to their college inquiries. A sociologist discusses whether the protests of 2020 will do anything to change that.Ted Thornhill, Associate Professor of Sociology, Florida Gulf Coast UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1277852019-12-05T12:43:20Z2019-12-05T12:43:20Z‘Stop-and-frisk’ can work, under careful supervision<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305045/original/file-20191203-67007-m2td5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C17%2C2886%2C1736&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 2012 training session between two New York police officers demonstrated a way stop-and-frisk encounters could be handled.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Stop-and-Frisk-Whistleblowers/eabebdc6461e470e9ee668699dd736f0/106/0">AP Photo/Colleen Long</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In mid-November, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized publicly for his backing of a practice intended to reduce violent crime that had for years been criticized as racially biased. “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/17/politics/michael-bloomberg-stop-and-frisk-apology/index.html">I realize back then I was wrong, and I’m sorry</a>,” he said.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/11/17/us/politics/ap-us-election-2020-bloomberg.html">his apology</a>, made at a predominantly black church in Brooklyn, puzzled many observers. That included scholars of criminal justice <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=SYMKKZQAAAAJ">like</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yLB0rKoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">ourselves</a>.</p>
<p>Bloomberg has long been a vocal supporter of a policy the city police department officially called “<a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/ccrb/investigations/stop-question-and-frisk.page">Stop, Question, and Frisk</a>,” including during his time as New York’s mayor. In an effort to control crime, police aggressively and indiscriminately stopped and questioned people on the streets or in public housing projects. Police also often patted down suspects to check for weapons.</p>
<p>His apology was confusing because that phrase, often shortened to “stop and frisk,” is used to describe two different things. </p>
<p>As we wrote in our book, “<a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479835881/stop-and-frisk/">Stop and Frisk</a>: The Use and Abuse of a Controversial Policing Tactic,” one is a legitimate, constitutionally sanctioned tactic, grounded in a police officer’s reasonable suspicion that a particular person is engaged in criminal activity. </p>
<p>The other is an illegitimate, broad crime-control strategy that, more often than not, ignores the law’s requirement that a particular person be reasonably suspected of breaking the law. </p>
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<h2>A legal tactic</h2>
<p>For centuries, the <a href="https://ccjls.scholasticahq.com/article/2723.pdf">English common law tradition</a>, which undergirds U.S. law, has recognized a police officer’s right to stop a member of the public to inquire about potentially criminal behavior. They can do this without needing to meet the legal standard for arresting the person and charging them with a crime – provided the officer had reasonable grounds to be suspicious in the first place.</p>
<p>In 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court codified that practice in its decision in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/392/1">Terry v. Ohio</a>. In that case, a police officer saw two black men walking up and down a Cleveland street and repeatedly peering into a particular store’s windows. A white man joined them, after which the police officer approached the group, identified himself and patted down the men’s clothes – effectively, stopping and frisking them. The pat-down revealed that two of them were carrying illegally concealed firearms and burglars’ tools.</p>
<p>The men challenged the constitutionality of the initial stop and the subsequent pat-down. </p>
<p>When the case got to the Supreme Court, the justices established that stop-and-frisk was a practice fundamentally different than a search or seizure as specified by the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment">Fourth Amendment</a>. They concluded that the police officer had what they called a “reasonable suspicion” that the suspects were preparing to burglarize the store. </p>
<p>The court also ruled that police could pat down suspects to ensure they aren’t armed with weapons that could be used against the officers. </p>
<p>Taken together, the ruling gives police broad authority to decide when, whether and why to stop, question and frisk people. </p>
<p>In several rulings since 1968, the Supreme Court has <a href="https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/2312">expanded officers’ power to stop</a> members of the public. That expanded power includes <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/446/544">stopping someone in the open concourse area of an airport and requesting to see person’s ticket and identification</a>, <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/463/1032.html">briefly searching a car for hidden weapons</a>, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/95-5841.ZO.html">stopping people for minor infractions</a> while really investigating more serious crimes and even frisking people under the pretext of looking for weapons <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/91-2019.ZO.html">in hopes of finding drugs</a>.</p>
<p>Left unchecked, all that discretion could lead to discriminatory, racially unjust and unconstitutional behavior in which blacks and Hispanics are targeted more often than their proportion of the population would suggest they should be.</p>
<p><iframe id="PQpMq" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PQpMq/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>A broad strategy</h2>
<p>At its core, the stop-and-frisk approach is supposed to rely on more than a hunch. But the low burden of proof, the large discretion granted to police and the relatively invisible nature of these sorts of encounters combine to create real potential for abuse. Indeed, several U.S. police departments turned stop-and-frisk tactics into a wider, <a href="http://www.skogan.org/files/Stop_Frisk_as_an_Organizational_Strategy.Lessons_from_Chicago_and_New_York.pdf">more aggressive strategy to cut down on crime</a>. </p>
<p>Since 2002, New York City police officers, for instance, have stopped, questioned and often frisked hundreds of thousands of people each year. Police conducted more than 685,000 stops in 2011 alone. <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/stats/reports-analysis/stopfrisk.page">Over 82% of the people stopped</a> were black or Hispanic, in a city where <a href="https://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/The_Changing_Racial_and_Ethnic_Makeup_of_New_York_City_Neighborhoods_11.pdf">52% of the population</a> is black or Hispanic. <a href="http://guides.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/nypd/StopandFrisk">Just 12% of all stops</a> – of people of any race – resulted in an arrest or a summons.</p>
<p>Based on that data, a federal judge ruled in 2013 that the New York Police Department had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/nyregion/stop-and-frisk-practice-violated-rights-judge-rules.html">unconstitutionally racially profiled</a> its stop-and-frisk targets. </p>
<p>That year, New York police stopped 191,851 people; since 2014, under Bloomberg’s successor Mayor Bill DeBlasio, the number has dropped steadily. In 2018, <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/stats/reports-analysis/stopfrisk.page">just 11,008 people were stopped</a>, and 31% of the stops resulted in an arrest or a summons.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303843/original/file-20191126-112531-2xyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303843/original/file-20191126-112531-2xyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303843/original/file-20191126-112531-2xyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303843/original/file-20191126-112531-2xyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303843/original/file-20191126-112531-2xyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303843/original/file-20191126-112531-2xyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303843/original/file-20191126-112531-2xyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303843/original/file-20191126-112531-2xyt9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg warned that a judge’s 2013 ruling restricting ‘stop-and-frisk’ policing could bring rising crime rates. Since the ruling, crime has stayed historically low.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Stop-and-Frisk/fec6d7f8f1aa4e078ce2cfeda649c427/9/0">AP Photo/Seth Wenig</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Taking on crime</h2>
<p>New York’s aggressive stopping-and-frisking practices happened at the same time as changes within the city’s police department, including a strategy in which police commanders identified what they called “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157223">high-crime areas</a>” and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157223">flooded those locations with officers on foot patrols</a>.</p>
<p>During that same time frame, the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199844425.001.0001">city’s crime rate dropped</a> – especially its murder rate. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-citys-murder-rate-hit-new-low-in-2018-11546559793">crime rates stayed historically low</a> even after officers dramatically reduced the frequency of stop-and-frisk encounters, signaling that other circumstances – not stop-and-frisk – drove the crime rate lower.</p>
<p><iframe id="xESKU" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/xESKU/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>A path forward, with caution</h2>
<p>Despite those problems in New York, we believe that it is possible for <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479835881/stop-and-frisk/">stop-and-frisk to succeed in contemporary policing</a> – so long as it is not used broadly and indiscriminately. </p>
<p>Officers can be fair to suspects if they stop and question a person only when objective circumstances give rise to reasonable suspicion of criminal activity – and if they frisk that person only when clear facts suggest the person may be armed.</p>
<p>For instance, it could be <a href="http://nypdmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-02-17-FloydLigonDavisCourtApprovalofRecommendationreFTSTraining-Att1.pdf">appropriate for an officer to stop and frisk someone on the street</a> for wearing a trench coat in hot weather. Another example that could warrant a stop-and-frisk would be if an officer sees someone repeatedly entering and leaving a bank or store without doing any business inside. </p>
<p>Those situations don’t depend on the race or ethnicity of the potential suspect. Racial or ethnic characteristics should be part of an officer’s decision to stop someone only if the person in other ways matches a description of a criminal suspect police are seeking.</p>
<p>Given the pervasiveness of racism and <a href="http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/research/understanding-implicit-bias/">implicit bias</a>, we believe that police departments that use stop-and-frisk tactics should be <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479835881/stop-and-frisk/">actively on guard</a> against officers’ misuse of police power. </p>
<p>That includes careful recruitment and selection of new officers, excellent training and clearly written policies. Moreover, officers must be supervised in ways that increase accountability and transparency, potentially involving external oversight.</p>
<p><a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479850150/cops-cameras-and-crisis/">Body-worn cameras</a> offer an opportunity for police departments to monitor and control officer decision-making during stop-and-frisk activities. Supervisors, training officers and even community members could systematically review body-worn camera footage as part of efforts to hold officers accountable for staying within the bounds of department policies and constitutional limitations.</p>
<p>If used properly, we believe, stop-and-frisk can be successfully and legitimately used while treating people with dignity and respect and giving suspects fair opportunities to tell their sides of the story. By making decisions fairly and acting with trustworthy motives, officers can ensure public safety while honoring citizens’ constitutional rights.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized for his city’s ‘stop-and-frisk’ police strategy. Two criminologists argue it isn’t necessarily inherently racist – though New York’s program was.Henry F. Fradella, Professor and Associate Director, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State UniversityMichael D. White, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1163292019-05-03T13:44:18Z2019-05-03T13:44:18ZPolice photo lineups: how background colours can skew eye witness identification<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272334/original/file-20190502-103082-8dfiac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographee.eu/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Identification parades can be powerful evidence in securing convictions in criminal cases. But eyewitness evidence is notoriously prone to errors – and organisations such as the <a href="https://www.innocenceproject.org/">Innocent Project</a> have found out that <a href="https://www.innocenceproject.org/causes/eyewitness-misidentification/">70% of wrongful convictions</a> that were later exonerated had verdicts based on faulty eyewitness evidence which resulted in mistaken identity. </p>
<p>Now <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2041669519843539">our new research</a> shows that small variations in the background colour of photo lineups can increase errors in identification of innocent suspects. We also added to the mounting evidence that shows people are worse at correctly identifying individuals who are of a different race to them. </p>
<p>Traditionally in the UK, lineups were conducted “live”, using the suspect and then several volunteers that were found on the day that resembled the suspect. But live lineups were <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/3799/?LKCAMPAIGN=it001_res&MEDIA=it001_d05">often cancelled</a> due to logistical problems. In a bid to reduce cancellations and make lineups fairer for suspects by finding more suitable volunteer stand-ins, for the past few decades lineups in a number of countries in Europe, the UK and the US have used photo lineups or video parades.</p>
<h2>Risk of bias</h2>
<p>Photo or video lineups do have some benefits over live lineups. Identification can take place more quickly after the crime. The foils in the lineup – the other members of the lineup than the suspect – can also be selected from a large database of images, rather than requiring police to find members of the public who resemble the suspect. Yet, although research does seem to suggest photo or video lineups can be <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199911)13:1%2B%3CS59::AID-ACP679%3E3.0.CO;2-Y">fairer and less likely to result</a> in mis-identifications compared to live lineups, there are ways in which a lineup could still be biased. </p>
<p>The instructions given to the witness can make the witness more likely to choose someone from a lineup, even when the lineup contains an innocent suspect. As a result, in most lineups the witness is told “the person may or may not be there”. Lineups can also <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03333151.pdf">be biased</a> in the way that they are constructed. For example, the suspect could stand out if their image differs from the other lineup members, such as the suspect’s image being at a different angle to the rest of the photos, or having a different facial expression. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272267/original/file-20190502-103082-13swgne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272267/original/file-20190502-103082-13swgne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272267/original/file-20190502-103082-13swgne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272267/original/file-20190502-103082-13swgne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272267/original/file-20190502-103082-13swgne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272267/original/file-20190502-103082-13swgne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272267/original/file-20190502-103082-13swgne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example of a biased lineup.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Havard et al.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another way the suspect may stand out from the other foils is if they are filmed on a different background from the other lineup members. Although lineup photographs are taken against a standard background, often a screen or a wall, natural variations in lighting or using different cameras can result in slight differences in the hues of background for different individuals. Our recent <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2041669519843539">research</a> looked at whether such variations in the background colours of police identity parades affect the accuracy of witness judgements. </p>
<p>We presented participants in our study with a target face for five seconds. A lineup of ten faces then appeared and individuals had to decide if one of the ten faces was the face they had previously seen – and, if so, which face it was – or if the target face was absent. Half of the faces presented in the lineups all had exactly the same backgrounds and half were on backgrounds of slightly different hues of green. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272268/original/file-20190502-103060-1lqovze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272268/original/file-20190502-103060-1lqovze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272268/original/file-20190502-103060-1lqovze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272268/original/file-20190502-103060-1lqovze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272268/original/file-20190502-103060-1lqovze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272268/original/file-20190502-103060-1lqovze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272268/original/file-20190502-103060-1lqovze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What participants were asked to do in our study. In this example, the ‘suspect’ is image number one.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Havard et. al</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For some of the lineups, the target face or “guilty suspect” was present and in others, they were absent – representing the conditions of an innocent suspect in a criminal investigation. Previous work we <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461355717731579">conducted showed</a> that witnesses are better at identifying a culprit who is of the same race as them and more likely to misidentify a culprit who is of a different race. This bias <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F1076-8971.7.1.3">is referred</a> to as the “own-race bias”, or “cross-race effect”. To investigate this, in our study we used some photos of people who were the same race as the participants – in our case Caucasian – as well as some photos of black people.</p>
<h2>Background matters</h2>
<p>We wanted to see whether the different backgrounds would influence how accurate people were at identifying people of the same race and of a different race. We found that, in cases where the lineup didn’t contain the target face, there were more false identifications when the lineup backgrounds varied, regardless of race.</p>
<p>When the lineups did contain the target face, overall there were no differences in correct identifications depending on whether the background varied or not. We also confirmed the persistence of own-race bias, meaning that our participants were more accurate at identifying suspects of their own race compared to other races. </p>
<p>Our research seems to suggest that variations in the backgrounds of photographs might not greatly influence identification when a guilty suspect is placed in a lineup. However, if a suspect who is innocent is placed in a linuep, and the backgrounds of the photos vary, there is a greater chance that an innocent suspect will be picked out.</p>
<p>Our findings could help reduce cases of mistaken identification that could lead to wrongful convictions. Although there are some factors, such as own-race bias, that can’t be controlled by the police, other factors such the backgrounds of photo lineups can be controlled. Ensuring witnesses choose a suspect because they recognise a suspect’s face, rather than disparities in the way the lineup photos are displayed, could help to reduce the false identification of innocent suspects.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New study reveals small variations in the background colour of photos in police lineups can increase misidentification.Catriona Havard, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, The Open UniversityMartin Thirkettle, Senior lecturer, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639852016-08-18T02:54:05Z2016-08-18T02:54:05ZDOJ report on Baltimore echoes centuries-old limits on African-American freedom in the Charm City<p>African-American rights in Baltimore have always been in jeopardy. The recently released <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/09/us/baltimore-justice-department-report/">report</a> from the Department of Justice on the Baltimore Police Department is sobering, but not surprising.</p>
<p>As a scholar of early African-American <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09612025.2012.661158">history in Maryland</a>, I see similarities between laws regarding enslaved and free blacks living in Baltimore prior to the Civil War, and the overpolicing of African-Americans today. African-Americans in antebellum and contemporary Baltimore share the same problem: limits on black freedom.</p>
<h2>Antebellum foundations for unequal treatment</h2>
<p>On the eve of the American Revolution, Maryland was second only to Virginia in the number of people it held in bondage. By the beginning of the 19th century, the number of free blacks began to rise. Baltimore had a significant free black population well before the <a href="http://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xiv">14th Amendment</a> made blacks citizens. According to the 1790 <a href="http://www.censusfinder.com/maryland.htm">U.S. census</a>, 927 free blacks resided in the county that included Baltimore city. By 1830, Baltimore city and the surrounding county was home to some 17,888 free African-Americans.</p>
<p>Historian Barbara Field <a href="http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300040326/slavery-and-freedom-middle-ground">notes</a> that the increase of free blacks in Maryland was a direct result of replacing tobacco harvesting, which required a full-time labor source, to wheat. Harvesting wheat did not require a year-round labor supply. Between the change in labor demands and African-Americans protesting their condition, the free black community in Virginia and Maryland grew.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134347/original/image-20160816-13035-t3hqqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arrival of freedmen and their families at Baltimore, Maryland – an everyday scene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library of Congress/Frank Leslie</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was a concern for lawmakers. <a href="http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000204/html/am204--458.html">Laws</a> such as the 1790 Act Related to Freeing Slaves by Will or Testament were designed to extract the maximum amount of labor from the enslaved before they were awarded freedom, or their free black relatives could purchase it for them. This meant enslaved men were freed only when they ceased to be in peak physical condition, and enslaved women were freed after their childbearing years.</p>
<p>Once freed, African-Americans <a href="aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000204/html/am204--269.html">had to show</a> “proof of a sufficient livelihood,” affirming their ability to care for themselves, or otherwise end up in the city jail or re-enslaved. The irony of this proclamation was that once freed, African-Americans found ways to stave off poverty by working in trades similar to the jobs they had while enslaved. If they avoided the county jail, free blacks were subject to curfews and sanctions against traveling. Many counties in Maryland passed laws requiring free blacks to move out of the state for fear they would incite the local enslaved population to rebel.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most alarming attempt to address the problem of black freedom was the <a href="http://slavery.msa.maryland.gov/html/casestudies/mscscountycs.html">development</a> of the American Colonization Society (ACS) and its chapters in antebellum cities such as Baltimore. Under the guise of Christianity and missionary work, the ACS promised enslaved African-Americans all the rights and privileges of freedom, so long as they relocated to Liberia. Organized by white slaveholders, politicians and religious organizations, the ACS offered a solution to both slavery and the rise in free blacks in the United States – resettle blacks outside the country.</p>
<p>Black intellectuals of the time were divided over resettlement campaigns. Abolitionist newspapers <a href="http://www.accessible-archives.com/2014/02/realities-american-colonization-society/">published</a> countless articles protesting the efforts of the colonization society. Historian Robert Brugger <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/maryland-middle-temperament">notes</a> that a group of free blacks surrounded the gangplanks in the Baltimore harbor in an attempt to stop the forced removal of their friends and family to Liberia.</p>
<p>As these 19th-century examples demonstrate, policing African-American freedom has a long history in Baltimore. African-Americans could escape slavery, but they were not truly free. New laws were continually passed to limit, if not completely dismantle, the very few rights they possessed.</p>
<h2>Baltimore today: DOJ report documents violations of civil rights</h2>
<p>The findings in the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/883366/download">DOJ report</a> echo the restrictions on lives of antebellum free blacks in key ways. African-Americans were arrested in greater proportion than their nonblack peers. According to the report: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>BPD made roughly 44 percent of its stops in two small, predominantly African-American districts that contain only 11 percent of the City’s population. Consequently, hundreds of individuals — nearly all of them African American – were stopped on at least 10 separate occasions from 2010–2015. Indeed, seven African-American men were stopped more than 30 times during this period.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>African-Americans were frequently arrested for loitering. If their presence became a problem, whether real or perceived, Baltimore police exercised a zero-tolerance policy when it came to African-Americans resulting in unlawful searches, seizures and arrests. As in the 19th century, the mere presence of African-Americans provided grounds for arrest. </p>
<p>In the 19th century, attempts were made to remove blacks from society by, among other means, sending them to Liberia or forcing them to move away. Today, arresting and detaining African-Americans quarantines them from the rest of society. If the arrest sticks and the individual is prosecuted and found guilty, he is incarcerated. If convicted of a felony, he is not allowed to vote.</p>
<p>African-Americans make up 44 percent of the Baltimore police force and 63 percent of the population of Baltimore city. As the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/03/us/the-race-gap-in-americas-police-departments.html">New York Times</a> points out, “Baltimore’s police department has a lower percentage of blacks than the population it serves. But in contrast to other cities that have been wracked by tension and protests over police confrontations with black men, the city’s mayor, its police commissioner, the state’s attorney are all black, giving a somewhat different tenor to clashes between the power structure and its critics.” Indeed, arguments about policing that exclusively point to racism or bias among officers as the root of the problem don’t hold for cities like Baltimore. I believe the problem is also tied to anti-black aspects of the laws they are tasked with enforcing.</p>
<p>The DOJ report provides a critical opportunity to assess and reform disparities in the legal system, especially as we continually bear witness to the almost <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-fire-this-time-is-in-milwaukee/2016/08/15/da3f9a3e-632b-11e6-be4e-23fc4d4d12b4_story.html?utm_term=.4bf97e1d3d70">daily death dance</a> between African-Americans and the police. It makes clear that African-American rights are in jeopardy. The key difference between African-Amerians in Baltimore then and now is that blacks are now citizens. They are entitled to, among other things, the right to due process under the law. </p>
<p>However, the DOJ findings make clear that African-Americans in Baltimore are disproportionately harassed, searched, detained and, in the case of Freddie Gray, murdered. The fear is not that the DOJ report has unmasked truths that we prefer to deny. The fear is that there will be a failure to reform the system in light of these findings. Greater than the fear is the reality that policing black citizens will continue to include practices that are eerily reminiscent of the past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Millward received funding from the American Association of University Women. </span></em></p>The Baltimore Police Department is found to have violated the civil rights of poor blacks. A historian explains why those findings are eerily similar to how the city treated blacks in the 1800s.Jessica Millward, Associate Professor of History, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/626662016-07-19T10:07:04Z2016-07-19T10:07:04ZAmerica’s police culture has a masculinity problem<p><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/baton-rouge-police-officers-shot-wounded-airline-highway/">Three police officers</a> were killed and three wounded in a shooting early on Sunday, July 17 in Baton Rouge. Ten days earlier – on July 7 – a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/us/dallas-police-shooting.html">sniper gunned down</a> five police officers in Dallas. </p>
<p>I know many strong critics of the police. Many of them are affiliated with the
<a href="http://blacklivesmatter.com/">Black Lives Matter movement</a>. None of them stand for ambushing police officers. I also know a few police officers and many prosecutors. Most of them are against racial profiling.</p>
<p>Now, it would be a false equivalence to say that Black Lives Matter activists and defenders of the police are in the same position. </p>
<p>Black Lives Matter activists are seeking changes in an institution – the criminal justice system – that has <a href="http://www.civilrights.org/publications/justice-on-trial/race.html">disproportionately targeted</a> and killed people of color. These activists are disproportionately drawn from communities that <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/layer8/black-lives-matter-queer-trans-issues/">have been marginalized</a> based on their race, gender identity, sexual orientation and related issues. </p>
<p>In contrast, police officers are sworn to protect the public, even when they are the subject of criticism and protest. Police officers are also disproportionately drawn from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/03/us/the-race-gap-in-americas-police-departments.html?_r=0">relatively privileged</a> segments of society: men and whites. </p>
<p>The recent controversy over policing has often been traced to racial bias, but it may stem in equal part from gender. I have spent a decade researching ways that race and gender intersect in policing and found that hidden police officer machismo is exacerbating the more commonly noticed problem of racial profiling. </p>
<h2>Issues around masculinity</h2>
<p>To bring about peace, we must first acknowledge that we have a problem. </p>
<p>The evidence that police officers target racial minority men for stops on suspicion of crime is overwhelming. This has been statistically proven in New York City <a href="http://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/assets/files/Floyd-Liability-Opinion-8-12-13.pdf">racial profiling litigation</a>. In a recent study, <a href="http://scholar.harvard.edu/fryer/home">Harvard professor Roland G. Fryer Jr.</a> also found <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/12/upshot/surprising-new-evidence-shows-bias-in-police-use-of-force-but-not-in-shootings.html">racial bias</a> in police uses of force. Additionally, in New York, as elsewhere, <a href="http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/students/groups/osjcl/files/2015/01/11-Richardson-and-Goff.pdf">racial profiling</a> of these types mostly happens to men. </p>
<p>Having seen such gender patterns before, my colleague <a href="https://law.unlv.edu/faculty/ann-mcginley">Ann C. McGinley</a>, a professor of law at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and I have <a href="https://law.unlv.edu/event/monday-law-talk-whats-masculinity-got-do-it-gender-pop-culture-and-law">often asked</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What’s masculinity got to do with it?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>By masculinity, I simply mean popular assumptions about what is manly behavior. For instance, men do not wear dresses, do not ask for directions and do not dance. Or so we are told. </p>
<p>If one is a man, or just wants to perform masculinity, one will be drawn toward the behaviors that are popularly understood to be manly. An important tendency of masculine behavior in the United States is to <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1257183">confront disrespect</a> with violence. </p>
<p>In policing, this has meant punishing the “noncrime” of “contempt of cop” (offending a police officer) with trumped up charges of law-breaking or physical violence. </p>
<p>The killing of Philando Castile serves as one example of the way racial bias and police officer machismo work together. </p>
<p>Racial profiling was evident in the fact that police officers had stopped Castile at the borders between black and white neighborhoods in and around St. Paul, Minnesota. Castile was stopped <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/stopped-52-times-by-police-was-it-racial-profiling/2016/07/09/81fe882a-4595-11e6-a76d-3550dba926ac_story.html">at least 52 times</a> over the course of a few years. Yet at least half of his citations were dismissed. That is an extraordinary number of stops, and an even more surprising number of dismissals.</p>
<p>Implicit in these excessive race-based stops is a macho stance that is <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/19/us/oakland-police-scandals/">especially prevalent</a> amongst those who go into policing. First, perhaps because police forces <a href="http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/2014/12/08/enlisted-police-officer/20102901/">often give preference</a> to former members of the military, police officers are prone to <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1257183">bullying the suspects.</a> It should be no surprise that more masculine men thrown into police forces patterned on the military are more prone to aggressive behavior.</p>
<h2>Here are the consequences of this culture</h2>
<p>To maintain face in the culture that prevails in many police departments, officers must meet any physical threat or even disobedience with violence. As the “<a href="http://www.aapf.org/sayhername/">Say Her Name” movement</a> has pointed out, when police officers get macho, women of color may also become victims of their violence. </p>
<p>Police bullying of women can come in the forms of false charges, physical violence, or sexual assaults. For instance, former Oklahoma City police officer <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/10/us/oklahoma-daniel-holtzclaw-trial/">Daniel Holtzclaw</a> was convicted of 18 counts of sexual offenses against African-American women.</p>
<p>Second, masculinity exacerbates racial profiling because young men of color are the boogeyman. They are the personification of danger in the eyes of much of the public and the police. That status stems from the U.S.’ long history of white supremacy and apartheid. Police officers may be both seeking to maintain their place in the male pecking order and genuinely afraid of men of color.</p>
<p>That is why the mention of a gun by a black man can lead a police officer to shoot first and question later. In the case of Castile, as an audio recording of the events later revealed, Castile’s <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/philando-castile-police-scanner-audio_us_5783a3a2e4b0c590f7ea0d4d">“wide-set nose”</a> got him pulled over. And being the subject of heightened fear – a black man with a gun – got him killed.</p>
<p>Of course, police officers are not a monolithic group. White police officers are not all explicitly, or even implicitly, biased against men of color. Many police officers are racial minorities themselves. Moreover, <a href="http://womenandpolicing.com/PDF/2002_Excessive_Force.pdf">increasing percentages</a> of police officers are women, whose presence has been connected to lessened police brutality. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, acknowledging that racial profiling and police officer machismo travel together is important, as it will require a different approach to fixing policing. </p>
<h2>Way forward: deescalate</h2>
<p>We cannot just observe the police through body cameras, for that will not stop police officers from feeling more threatened by men of color in the first place. Instead, we need to train police officers to acknowledge both that many of them have implicit biases against racial minorities and that they may feel more fearful of men of color than any other group.</p>
<p>As I think about how this proposal might become reality, I have the same advice for each side of the policing divide: deescalate.</p>
<p>To protesters against the police I say this: After Baton Rouge, rightly or wrongly, you will have to go first. Do not stop criticizing racial profiling and police officer machismo, but do unequivocally disavow shooting police officers. </p>
<p>To police officers I say this: You rightfully feel vulnerable, but do not ratchet up this conflict. Do not condone the idea <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/author/heather-mac-donald">advanced in some conservative quarters</a> that the slaying of police officers means you must allow crime to rise. Honor your fallen comrades by doing your job even better. </p>
<p>In the day-to-day job, that means using deescalation techniques to turn potential conflicts into peaceful resolutions. Deescalating the overall conflict between police officers and protesters will not be easy, but it will be worth the effort.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62666/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank Rudy Cooper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A macho culture prevails in police departments in America. The recent killing of Philando Castile serves as one example of the way racial bias and police officer machismo work together.Frank Rudy Cooper, Professor of Law, Suffolk UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.