New study probes impact of police diversity in Chicago
by Christine Fernando And Marion Renault, The Associated Press
Posted Feb 11, 2021 2:01 pm EDT
Last Updated Feb 11, 2021 at 2:14 pm EDT
CHICAGO In the last decade, high-profile police killings including George Floyd in 2020 have shaken the nation and led to widespread protests and calls for reform, including hiring more nonwhite and female officers.
But there was little research to back that up. Now, a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, suggests that diversity in law enforcement can indeed lead to improvements in how police treat people of colour.
“It’s a system that very clearly needs reforming,” said University of Pennsylvania data scientist Dean Knox, a co-author of the study. “We just haven’t had good data on what reforms work.”