11 February 2021
by: Meagan Phelan A 3-year study in Chicago concludes that diversifying a police force can reduce conflicts between officers and the community. | yooperann/ Flickr A 3-year study in Chicago concludes that diversifying a police force can reduce conflicts between officers and the community. | yooperann/ Flickr
Black, Hispanic, and female police officers in Chicago made fewer stops and arrests than their white male counterparts, according to an analysis of three years of data on daily activities of officers in the Chicago Police Department (CPD) an agency that has undergone substantial diversification in recent decades.
The differences reported, specific to police responses to non-violent crimes, make the case that diversifying a police force can reduce conflicts between officers and the community without making any trade-offs in public safety. They provide strong evidence that at least in some cities the number of officers who identify with
Scientific American
A new study of the city’s policing also shows differences between male and female cops
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Demonstrators confront police during a protest over the death of Laquan McDonald on November 25, 2015, in Chicago. Credit: Scott Olson
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White police officers in Chicago are far more likely than their Black counterparts to stop, arrest or use force against Black civilians, and the disparity is more pronounced in the city’s highly segregated majority-Black neighborhoods, according to a study published Thursday in
Science. The study’s authors say the findings suggest more diversification in hiring could present an avenue for reform, but some social scientists and activists disagree. The city has had diversity programs in place since the 1960s.
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IMAGE: Black and Hispanic officers make far fewer stops and arrests and use less force than white officers, especially against Black civilians, when facing otherwise common circumstances. Hispanic officers also engage. view more
Credit: Egan Jimenez, Princeton University
PRINCETON, N.J. The recent killings of Black Americans have reignited calls for policing reform, including proposals to diversify police departments, which have historically been made up of white, male officers. Yet, few studies have examined whether deploying minority and female officers actually changes police-civilian interactions or reduces instances of shootings and reported misconduct.
A study first debuted Feb. 7 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2021 Annual Meeting harnesses newly collected data from the Chicago Police Department to show that deploying officers of different backgrounds does, in fact, produce large differences in how police treat civili
B. Rose Huber, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Feb. 11, 2021 2:08 p.m.
Illustration by
Egan Jimenez, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
The recent killings of Black Americans have reignited calls for policing reform, including proposals to diversify police departments, which have historically been made up of primarily white, male officers. Yet, few studies have examined whether deploying minority and female officers actually changes police-civilian interactions or reduces instances of shootings and reported misconduct.
Jonathan Mummolo
Egan Jimenez, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
A study first debuted Feb. 7 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2021 Annual Meeting harnesses newly collected data from the Chicago Police Department to show that deploying officers of different backgrounds does, in fact, produce large differences in how police treat civilians.
Christine Fernando And Marion Renault February 11, 2021 - 1:43 PM
CHICAGO - In the last decade, high-profile police killings â including George Floyd in 2020 â 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.
âItâs a system that very clearly needs reforming,â said study co-author Dean Knox, an assistant professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. âWe just havenât had good data on what reforms work.â