Policing Neighborhoods: How Policing Influences the Residential Preferences and Experiences of Families with Children

• In Event: 222 - Regular Session. Space and Place

Abstract

How do parents weigh policing in their assessment of a neighborhood? A growing body of research is examining neighborhood selection as a social process. Scholars are beginning to explore in greater depth the multitude of factors that influence where people live. Drawing from 264 interviews conducted with 151 family heads in Cleveland, Ohio and Dallas, Texas, this paper uncovers the under-recognized role of police in creating and sustaining neighborhood reputations and defining a neighborhood’s suitability for raising a family. Early results suggest that police matter for families’ assessment of neighborhoods along three axes. First, they care about police presence, with beliefs differing depending on whether the police presence results from responding to reported crimes, patrolling to discourage future crime, inhabiting the neighborhood through a station or substation, or residing in the neighborhood (which often signifies that the neighborhood is for upwardly mobile, salt-of-the-earth types.) Second, families are concerned about the reputation of the police as responsive, tough, and (especially for Black and Hispanic respondents) racially biased. Families reported that they did not choose certain neighborhoods because the police had reputations of either neglecting certain neighborhoods or targeting certain groups of people in specific neighborhoods. Third, families view police as having expertise on neighborhood quality, so police opinions bear significant weight in decision-making processes about where to live. These findings suggest paths forward for research on both policing—seeing police not only as crime control officials but as neighborhood-makers—and on residential preference and selection among families.

Author

• Monica C. Bell, Harvard University