Proven results from the nation’s most qualified racial profiling expert!
Book Reviews
“Racial Profiling: From Rhetoric to Reason is a first rate review of contemporary studies. It should be mandatory reading for any police administrator who is thinking of participating in a racial profiling study or partnering with a university police scholar.”
Dr. Richard G. Greenleaf, Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, State University of New York
Plattsburgh, New York
“This book will certainly help criminal justice professionals hold a more informed conversation on the topic.”
Dr. George E. Higgins, Associate Professor
Department of Justice Administration, University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
“This book is, without doubt, an invaluable contribution to the criminal justice discipline. It is highly recommended for academics and graduate students who are interested in the interplay of race and policing. Policy makers and police administrators will also find it enlightening and useful.”
Napoleon C. Reyes, JD, College of Criminal Justice
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, Texas
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE – AN EMERGENCE
Introduction
The Police and the Minority Community
Police Abuse and the Minority Community
The Influence of Race in Police Decision Making
Differential Community Support for the Police
The Promise and Peril of Community Policing
Profiling as an Enforcement Tool
Profiling Defined
Hijacker Profiling
Criminal Profiling
Drug Courier Profiling
How Race Became a Part of the Profile
Arguments for Including Race in the Profile
Arguments Against Including Race in the Profile
The Dynamics of the Traffic Stop
The Stories and Media Attention
Whren v. United States
New Jersey: Racial Profiling Ground Zero
CHAPTER TWO – WHAT WE KNOW AND DON’T KNOW
Introduction
Definitions and Measures
Definitions
Measures
The Structure of Racial Profiling Inquiry
Salient Research Questions
Are Minorities Stopped More Frequently?
Are There Differences in the Reasons for the Stops?
Are Minorities Searched More Frequently?
Are Stops Involving Minorities More Punitive?
Are Minorities Detained Longer During Stops?
Are Incidents of Physical Resistance/Confrontation More Frequent?
Do the Officer Characteristics Matter?
Overall Limitations of the Research
CHAPTER THREE – CRITICAL METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
Introduction
Defining Racial Profiling
Conceptual and Operational Definitions
Validity
The Denominator Problem
Types of Benchmarks
Population
Field Observation
Accident Records
Internal Benchmarks
Advantages and Disadvantages of Benchmarks
Population
Field Observation
Accident Records
Does it Really Make a Difference?
Measuring Who Gets Stopped
Accuracy
Completeness
Reactivity
Causality: Correlation is not Cause
CHAPTER FOUR – EXPLAINING THE DISPARITY
Introduction
Explanatory Continuums
Do Differential Offending Rates Explain the Disparity?
Potential Theoretical Explanations
The Behavior of Individual Criminal Justice Actors
Theory of Reasoned Action
Theory of Coercive Action
Expectancy Theory
The Behavior of Criminal Justice Agencies
Institutional Expectations/Bargaining
Institutional Perspectives
The Behavior of the Entire Criminal Justice System and its Component Parts
Theory of Norm Resistance
Theory of Law
Conflict Theory
The Theory of Differential Attentiveness
Does Context Affect Police Decision Making?
A Look Inside the Beats
Does Deployment Explain the Disparity?
Driving While not Black
CHAPTER FIVE – THE POLITICAL AND LEGAL RESPONSE
Introduction
The Political Response
The Legal Response
The Fourth Amendment – Unreasonable Search and Seizure
The Fourteenth Amendment – Equal Protection
Title 42, U.S.C., Section 14141 – Pattern and Practice
Stop and Frisk – The Terry Rule
Pretextual Stops
Title 42, U.S.C., Section 1983
Other Key Legal Rulings
CHAPTER SIX – CONDUCTING RACIAL PROFILING STUDIES (BEST PRACTICES)
Introduction
Precipitating Events
Common Obstacles
Critical Steps
Enlisting the Help of Others
Developing Salient Research Questions
Data Collection Strategies
Measurement: Variables and Attributes
What to Collect and Why
Information about the persons stopped
Information about the stop itself
Information about police officers
Improving Accuracy and Completeness
Data Analysis
Reporting the Results
CHAPTER SEVEN – SOLUTIONS
Introduction
Control Police Discretion
Control Consent Searches
Pay Attention to Deployment
Manage the Leader’s Influence
Provide Proactive Training and Education
Recruit a Reflective Workforce
Use Technology
Change the Law
Make new Law
Make the Police More Accountable
Can we Really Make a Difference?
CHAPTER EIGHT – WHAT’S NEXT?
Introduction
Patterns in Research
Scholars and Police Administrators will Partner to Produce Important Research
A Measurable Definition of Racial Profiling will Remain Controversial
The Collection of Police Stop Data will Become More Routine
Benchmarks will Become More Accurate
Patterns in Police Administration
Police Departments may Recognize Their Role in Addressing Racial Injustice
Police Departments will Avoid Legal Intervention at All Costs
Police Departments will Implement Proactive Citizen Complain Procedures
Police Departments will Develop Extensive Cultural Sensitivity Training Programs
Police Officers will Learn to Clearly Articulate Their Motivations
Legal Patterns
Whren is not Likely to be Reversed in the Near Future
Legal Remedies Based on the Equal Protection Clause will not be Feasible Until the Statistics are Better
Legal Remedies Based on 42 U.S.C., Section 14141 may Become More Frequent
Post 9/11 and the War on Terror: Are We Making the Same Mistake?
*Each chapter includes a summary, discussion questions and case studies.