Differential drug involvement or differential enforcement? Explaining racial disparities in drug arrests

• In Event: Fifty Years of Drug Arrests: Crime Control or Oppression? (Session 1)

Abstract

Racial disparities in drug arrests are pronounced in the United States. Previous research points to at least two possible sources of such disparity: differential drug involvement by race and biased police enforcement stemming from racial or economic threat. The current study examines these competing hypotheses at the neighborhood level in St. Louis. The study is based on drug-related death data from the St. Louis Medical Examiner’s Office, drug arrest data from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and data on neighborhood characteristics from the 2010 U.S. Census. The results have implications for theories of racial disparity in law enforcement, future research on group disparities in drug enforcement, and drug enforcement policy.

Authors

• Shytierra Gaston, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Sherri Schaefer, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Kristina Linden, University of Missouri - St. Louis

• Richard Rosenfeld, University of Missouri - St. Louis