Apprehensive
Policing a Pandemic in New York City: How Do Community Features Matter in the Location of Social Distancing Violations?
Joseph Gibbons, Joshua Chanin & Tse-Chuan Yang
Social Problems, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study assesses the contextual role that race/ethnicity play in predicting the enforcement of COVID-19 precautions during the early stages of the pandemic. We draw upon 311 police service calls pertaining to social distancing violations in New York City to investigate whether Black and Hispanic communities are less likely to call in social distancing violations as well as whether racial/ethnic composition influences law enforcement response. We conduct negative binomial models estimating spatial effects and controlling for the number of COVID-19 cases, police behavior (arrests, stop and frisks, community complaints), community social networks, and other demographic characteristics. We find the racial/ethnic disparities in law enforcement response and intervention in social distancing violations exist independently of local COVID-19 rates. There are fewer calls for social distancing violations in Black communities, but the likelihood of law enforcement intervening in COVID-19 violations, including arrests, is stronger in Black and Hispanic communities than in White communities.
The effect of highly publicized police killings on policing: Evidence from large U.S. cities
Cheng Cheng & Wei Long
Journal of Public Economics, February 2022
Abstract:
Do highly publicized police killings of civilians have a widespread effect on policing activities? Focusing on such incidents in the United States during 2014–2016 and adopting different identification strategies, we study the effect in large U.S. cities. We conduct a single-city analysis of St. Louis and a multi-city analysis of 60 large cities. Our regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences estimates provide consistent and strong evidence that those high-profile killings reduced policing activities, including police self-initiated activities and arrests. The estimated reduction in self-initiated activities shows that police officers proactively withdrew from law enforcement activities, providing direct evidence of de-policing.
Understanding Gun Ownership in the Twenty-First Century: Why Some Americans Own Guns, but Most Do Not
Nathaniel Schutten et al.
Justice Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
The gun ownership literature is vast, with dozens of studies seeking to explain who owns guns and why. We build on this literature in two key ways. First, we introduce a new variable into the fold: sensitivity to harm. We theorize that this concern actively inhibits gun ownership. Second, we direct theoretical and empirical attention to a predictor that has frequently been overlooked in the contemporary gun literature even though its timing makes it the proverbial confounder: childhood gun socialization. Using data from a national sample of 1,100 adults and controlling for other known predictors, we find that sensitivity to harm is negatively related to gun ownership, whereas childhood socialization is positively related to it. Furthermore, we find that childhood socialization is not only the strongest predictor of owning guns, but also confounds the relationship between racial resentment and gun ownership, and fully mediates the effect of gender.
Can Racial Diversity Attenuate Racial Discrimination in Service Interactions? Evidence from Cite-and-Release Decisions within Police Departments
Jirs Meuris
Organization Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Despite the belief that racial diversity in organizations will attenuate racial discrimination in service interactions, the extant literature suggests that it may often exacerbate discrimination by generating intergroup conflict. In this paper, I propose that the influence of racial diversity on racial discrimination in service interactions will depend upon (a) the level of interdependence within an organization and (b) whether an increase in diversity consists of a larger representation of a minority’s own racial group. To test my predictions, I combine interaction-level data covering approximately 200,000 cite-and-release decisions where suspects are either given a summons to attend court at a later date or transported to jail following arrest with longitudinal organization-level data from 93 police departments across the United States. Consistent with prior research, I found that minority suspects were less likely to be cited and released for the same offense relative to White suspects. Racial diversity among sworn officers in a police department exacerbated discrimination in cite-and-release decisions unless officers’ work roles were highly interdependent due to the adoption of community-oriented policing. Focusing on Black and Hispanic suspects, I observed this pattern regardless of whether an increase in racial diversity in the department was characterized by a larger representation of a minority suspect’s own racial group or other minority racial groups. Taken together, the findings suggest that diverse organizations can mitigate the emergence of intergroup conflict that exacerbates racial discrimination in service interactions by fostering interdependencies.
Body-worn cameras, lawful police stops, and NYPD officer compliance: A cluster randomized controlled trial
Anthony Braga, John MacDonald & James McCab
Criminology, February 2022, Pages 124-158
Abstract:
The federal court settlement of Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al. (2013) mandated that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) implement a series of reforms to address unlawful stop, question, and frisk patterns and practices. Among other changes, the remedial order required the NYPD to implement and evaluate a pilot body-worn camera program to determine whether outfitting officers with the technology led to more lawful and civil police–citizen encounters. A cluster randomized controlled trial involving 40 police precincts and 3,889 NYPD officers was used to evaluate the effects of body-worn cameras on a series of police work activity, civility, and lawfulness outcomes. Relative to control officers, citizen complaints against treatment officers outfitted with body-worn cameras were reduced by 21 percent. Treatment officers, however, also filed nearly 39 percent more stop reports when compared with control officers. Treatment stop reports tended to involve minority subjects, were less likely to involve arrests and summons, and were significantly more likely to be rated as not meeting constitutional justifications for stops, frisks, and searches. These results suggest that body-worn cameras improved NYPD officer compliance with mandates to document all stops and could be used to address unlawful policing through better detection of problematic police–citizen encounters.
Before and After Ban the Box: Who Complies with Anti-Discrimination Law?
Lesley Schneider et al.
Law & Social Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
Ban the Box (BTB) laws are an anti-discrimination policy intended to promote employment for persons with criminal records. However, research on law and organizations shows that firms often fail to comply with legal directives or engage in symbolic compliance that fails to alter day-to-day business practices. We consider whether BTB contributed to attitudinal or behavioral shifts among hiring managers and changes in job applications. We analyze a unique set of in-depth interviews (N = 30) and entry-level job applications (N = 305) collected from the same workplaces in 2008 and 2016, assessing the impact of state BTB legislation. We find: (1) that one in five organizations were noncompliant, with noncompliance twice as likely among employers who discriminated against applicants with criminal records pre-BTB and that widespread lack of knowledge and lack of enforcement of BTB appears to affect noncompliance; (2) organizations maintained considerable continuity in hiring practices and attitudes between 2008 and 2016, regardless of personnel changes and statewide implementation of BTB; and (3) post-BTB, strong warnings about criminal background checks at later stages of the hiring process emerged as an alternative source of gatekeeping. These findings contribute to the law and organizations literature by highlighting the importance of enforcement and limits of law for combating discrimination.
Mass shootings and peer-to-peer lending
Raffi García, Sen Li & Abdullah Al Mahmud
Finance Research Letters, forthcoming
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the effect of mass shootings on peer-to-peer lending behavior. Using U.S. data from 2014–2018, we implement an event study methodology to exploit the quasi-experimental nature of mass-shooting incidents on local credit markets. Our findings indicate a short-term tightening of local credit conditions (higher interest rates and lower loan amounts) immediately after a mass shooting in affected communities relative to those in non-affected communities. These findings highlight that online credit marketplaces are reactive to random local shocks of violence at the community level and their corresponding public and media attention.
When Dogs Make the Difference: Jail-Based Parenting With and Without Animal-Assisted Therapy
Kimberly Collica-Cox & George Day
Criminal Justice Policy Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
With 1.7 million children in the United States with an incarcerated parent, the need to provide evidence-based programming, which helps incarcerated mothers re-establish healthy relationships with their children, is essential. This study examines Parenting, Prison, and Pups, a jail-based parenting course for incarcerated women, integrated with the use of animal-assisted therapy (AAT). Utilizing a mixed-method quasi-experimental design, the authors examined differences between mothers who completed a parenting course with AAT, compared with those who completed the same course without AAT; statistically significant lower rates of parental stress and higher rates of self-esteem and parental knowledge among the AAT group were found. Based on qualitative data, the presence of therapy dogs appeared to encourage communication, trust, and connectedness between group members. These results indicate the importance of using innovative tools to help incarcerated women, who often have long histories of trauma and abuse, to develop healthy bonds with their children.
Police contact and future orientation from adolescence to young adulthood: Findings from the Pathways to Desistance Study
Alexander Testa et al.
Criminology, forthcoming
Abstract:
In response to the changing nature of policing in the United States, and current climate of police–citizen relations, research has begun to explore the consequences of adolescent police contact for life outcomes. The current study investigates if and under what conditions police contact has repercussions for future orientation during adolescence and the transition into young adulthood. Using data from the Pathways to Desistance study, a multisite longitudinal study of serious offenders followed from adolescence to young adulthood, results from a series of fixed-effects models demonstrated three main findings. First, personal and vicarious police contact, compared with no additional police contact, are negatively associated with within-person changes in future orientation. Second, any exposure to police contact, regardless of how just or unjust the contact is perceived, is negatively associated with future orientation. Third, the negative association between police contact and future orientation is larger for White individuals compared with that for Black or Hispanic individuals. Considering the importance of future orientation for prosocial behavior, the findings suggest that adolescent police contact may serve as an important life-course event with repercussions for later life outcomes.
Violent Video Games and Crime
Joost Impink et al.
Journal of Media Economics, December 2021, Pages 49-73
Abstract:
This study examines the change in crime observed in the weeks following the release (exogenous shocks to video game play) of top-selling video games between 2006 and 2011. We find that the release of violent (Mature-rated) video games is associated with an increase in overall crime in the weeks following release. Crime increases for both youth and adults following blockbuster Mature-rated releases, but the increase in crime among youth is approximately four times greater (8%) than the increase among adults (2%). Conversely, we find that the release of best-selling nonviolent (Everyone-rated) video games is not associated with a change in crime in the weeks directly following the release. Our results suggest that the release of violent video games increases crime in the United States, at least in the short-term, especially among the under-17 population for whom Mature-rated games are explicitly labeled as not “suitable.” Interestingly, our results are completely moderated in U.S. counties that forbid alcohol sales, which suggests that alcohol is a necessary channel through which exposure to violent video games contributes to crime.
The Dark Side of the Shale Boom – County Level
Shishir Shakya & Luyi Han
Pennsylvania State University Working Paper, January 2022
Abstract:
Literature relates the sudden expansion of tight oil and shale gas in the United States with higher employment and income. In this work, we investigate the disamenities due to the shale boom — the effects of the shale boom on local crime. Based on all the counties in the US, we find places with higher shale activities are associated with higher crime. Our preferred instrumental variable estimates suggest a one percent increase in new drilling activity is associated with a 5.9 percent increase in total crime. The increase in rape and assault crime seems to be the main driver of the rise in total crime. This work contributes to the broad literature related to the natural resource curse.
The Effectiveness of Certificates of Relief: A Correspondence Audit of Hiring Outcomes
Peter Leasure & Robert Kaminski
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, December 2021, Pages 849-875
Abstract:
Although there are several collateral consequence relief mechanisms that could theoretically be used to improve employment outcomes for those with criminal history, many of these mechanisms are available only for first-time/low-level individuals or possess other requirements that limit their accessibility. Recognizing these facts, some jurisdictions have created certificates of relief, which are generally more accessible than other relief mechanisms. The goal of the current study was to test whether one state's (Ohio) certificate could improve hiring outcomes for men with criminal histories comprised of felony theft, felony drug possession, and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia convictions. This goal was achieved with the use of two field experiments. Results showed that certificate holders with criminal history received significantly fewer callbacks than those with no criminal record and fared no better than those with an identical criminal record and no certificate. Further, African-American applicants received significantly fewer callbacks than white applicants in all criminal record categories.
Impact of Focused Deterrence on Lived Experiences With Gangs and Gun Violence: Extending Effects Beyond Officially Recorded Crime
Tammy Kochel, Seyvan Nouri & Yaser Samadi
Criminal Justice Policy Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
The study evaluates a geographically based focused deterrence (FD) intervention, extending knowledge about FD impact beyond crime data to also examine residents’ lived experiences with gangs and gun violence via a two-wave household survey. We employ a quasi-experimental design and utilize time-series analyses, coefficient difference tests, and mixed-effects ordinal logistic regression. The results show a significant reduction in shots fired incidents in the target area relative to comparison areas. Shots fired calls for service trended downward citywide, but the magnitude was doubled in the target area. Survey data showed substantive declines in the target area on all six gang and gun violence outcomes, significantly exceeding changes experienced in comparison areas. We conclude that focusing geographically as well as on repeat offenders is an effective FD approach, and evaluating community surveys provides an improved understanding of the community impact.
The Effect of Split Sentences on Employment and Future Criminal Justice Involvement: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Michael Menefee et al.
Social Forces, forthcoming
Abstract:
Jails serve as the front doors of carceral systems, with 10 million jail admissions annually. The people admitted to jail often end up with probation sentences. As a result, there are approximately 3.5 million people on probation supervision in the United States. Despite the widespread reach of these institutions, little sociological research exists on the collateral consequences of jail and probation supervision. We focus on these two forms of criminal justice supervision by examining the use of split sentences, an understudied yet common type of criminal sanction that combines a period of jail incarceration with an ordinary probation sentence. Using rich administrative data, we leverage a natural experiment that relies upon the random assignment of judges to felony cases to estimate causal effects of receiving a split sentence compared to receiving a probation-only sentence. Our identification strategy allows us to isolate the effect of receiving a split sentence among people also sentenced to probation. Our results show that split sentences increase the risk of future prison admissions and, among whites with presentence employment, decrease formal labor market employment. We find that most of the effect of a split sentence on new prison admissions is driven by greater risk of technical violations of probation conditions stemming from higher levels of probation supervision, suggesting that intensification of criminal justice involvement is a self-fulfilling prophecy initiated by the judge’s decision to start a probation sentence with a local jail term.