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Financing The War On Drugs: The Impact Of Law Enforcement Grants On Racial Disparities In Drug Arrests

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  • Robynn Cox
  • Jamein P. Cunningham

Abstract

This study estimates the impact of the discretionary Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program (EBMGP) on drug arrests and crime. The 1986 and 1988 Anti‐Drug Abuse Act allocated federal funds to state and local municipalities to combat illicit drug use and violent crime associated with drug sales and trafficking. The results show that the implementation of the EBMGP resulted in an increase in police hiring, an increase in drug sales arrest rates for Blacks and Whites, and a decrease in total crime. Nonetheless, Black‐White racial disparity in the drug sales arrest rate still significantly increases by approximately 1 for every 1,000 Black residents. Our findings highlight the role of federal crime control policies in state and local policing. Although, the EBMGP was a color‐blind policy initiative, it was not race neutral in its implementation.

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  • Robynn Cox & Jamein P. Cunningham, 2021. "Financing The War On Drugs: The Impact Of Law Enforcement Grants On Racial Disparities In Drug Arrests," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 191-224, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:40:y:2021:i:1:p:191-224
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.22277
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    1. Andrew Jordan & Ezra Karger & Derek Neal, 2021. "Heterogeneous Impacts of Sentencing Decisions," Working Paper Series WP 2022-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, revised 12 Feb 2022.

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