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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. Ferrazares, Toshio, 2024. "Monitoring Police with Body-Worn Cameras: Evidence from Chicago," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Lieberman, Carl, 2024. "Variation in racial disparities in police use of force," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).

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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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