Behavioral Theory of Street-Level Policing

• In Event: Behavioral Political Economy: Identity

Abstract

Racial disparities in policing are well documented. Two standard explanations are police officer animus and unequal crime rates across communities. We analyze a behavioral theory of policing that incorporates both, while also relaxing the standard (but unrealistic) assumption that decision makers must be fully Bayesian. Our model of "street-level behavioral policing" features an officer who mistakenly conflates experiences of crime on the job with those in his personal life. As a result, the officer forms exaggerated beliefs about the relative crime rate among members of a community that he has little social contact with. Strikingly, our analysis demonstrates that discrimination can occur without either animus or unequal crime rates. In both cases, disparate treatment and inaccurate beliefs about groups' relative criminality are joint and mutually reinforcing outcomes. As a result, behavioral policing can exacerbate discrimination even when police officials remain convinced they don't discriminate.

Authors

• Andrew Little, University of California-Berkeley

• Ryan Hubert, University of California, Davis