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Police Use of Force as an Extension of Arrests: Examining Disparities across Civilian and Officer Race

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  • Emily K. Weisburst

Abstract

The United States is embroiled in an important debate about police use of force tactics. I find that black civilians are disproportionately likely to be involved in a use of force incident during an arrest, examining data from Dallas, Texas. However, this race disparity stems from differences in the initial likelihood of arrest. Further, I fail to find evidence of taste-based racial bias in use of force conditional on arrest, leveraging variation across officer and civilian race. The results suggest that reforms that narrowly focus on force-related protocols may be unlikely to reduce racial disparities in use of force.

Suggested Citation

  • Emily K. Weisburst, 2019. "Police Use of Force as an Extension of Arrests: Examining Disparities across Civilian and Officer Race," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 152-156, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:109:y:2019:p:152-56
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20191028
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shamena Anwar & Hanming Fang, 2006. "An Alternative Test of Racial Prejudice in Motor Vehicle Searches: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 127-151, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mark Hoekstra & CarlyWill Sloan, 2022. "Does Race Matter for Police Use of Force? Evidence from 911 Calls," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(3), pages 827-860, March.
    2. Abrahams, Scott, 2020. "Officer differences in traffic stops of minority drivers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Carl Lieberman, 2020. "Variation in Racial Disparities in Police Use of Force," Working Papers 639, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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