TRUSTINEWS: Nonwhite and female police use force less than white male officers
UC criminal justice researcher weighs in on study of the Chicago Police Department
Recent research led by the University of California studied the demographics and behavior of thousands of Chicago police officers and revealed how officers of different races and genders acted while on similar patrol assignments. While the results do not shed light on why these differences exist, they do suggest that diversifying U.S. police departments — which have historically been nearly all white and male — may improve police treatment of minority communities.
This study is “one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated” examinations of how officer demographics affect policing to date, says Robin Engel, a criminal justice researcher at the University of Cincinnati who was not involved in the work.
Among the study findings were that Black officers made 15.16 fewer stops, 1.93 fewer arrests and used force 0.1 fewer times than their white counterparts, on average, over the course of 100 shifts. Like their Black colleagues, Hispanic officers conducted fewer stops, made fewer arrests and used force less often than white officers, although the difference was not as stark.
Engel cautions that this study alone cannot explain why officers of different races and genders police differently.
Featured image at top: Rodgerson/Unsplash
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Spectrum News: Marian Spencer’s legacy remembered amid Coney...
March 27, 2024
Spectrum News features the story of UC alumna Marian Spencer as part of its storytelling for Women's History Month. Spencer was instrumental in desegregating Cincinnati's Coney Island as well as Cincinnati Public Schools.
WLWT: Could a bridge collapse like Baltimore's happen here?
March 27, 2024
WLWT spoke to a University of Cincinnati engineering professor to get context about how local Ohio River bridges and bridge traffic compare to the Baltimore span that collapsed after being struck by a container ship.
UC reduces the gender gap in IT
March 27, 2024
The University of Cincinnati's School of Information Technology is working to reduce the gender gap in IT.