The Allocation of Police Resources and Practices in New York City, 1988-2001

• In Event: 033 - Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 11. Policing 1

Abstract

Precinct-level data for New York City for the years 1988-2001 are used to examine the factors that influence the New York Police Department’s deployment of resources to precincts in the five boroughs, and the law enforcement actions the police take in the precincts. In particular, the paper examines the number of police assigned to each precinct (per capita), and the rate at which they make arrests for felonies and for misdemeanors. How are these rates influenced by the demographic composition of a precinct, its socio-economic conditions, and the rates of reported crime in that precinct? Do the police appear to be targeting high crime rate neighborhoods for intense police surveillance and law enforcement, or are they selectively targeting black and Latino populations for extra-heavy-handed policing, above and beyond the levels anticipated from local rates of reported crime?

Author

• David F. Greenberg, New York University