Are All Stops Equal? The Unexplored Gender Dynamics of Proactive Policing Strategies

• In Event: You Can Teach an Old Dog a New Trick: Enhancing Policing Strategies

Abstract

The diverse population in the city of New York and the vast size of the communities make effective policing in the city an arduous task. One of the most effective methods for preventing crime is for police officers to take a more active policing approach. Therefore, the New York City Police Department started to take a more proactive, rather than a reactive, approach to crime prevention. The Stop-and-Frisk policy was implemented with the objective of precluding transgression and thereby keep the residents in the city safe. However, since the inception of this contentious program, the policy has come under immense scrutiny from civil rights organizations. While previous research examined this policy by assessing the race or ethnicity of an individual, the impact of this policy from a gender perspective has largely been disregarded. The examination of the Stop-and Frisk policy from a gender perspective is pertinent because the treatment of women as a result of this policy may be affected by their gender, in addition to their race or ethnicity. Through the use of logistic regression analysis, this study will determine whether the race, ethnicity, and gender of an individual being stopped were each a significant factor.

Author

• Roger J. Chin, Claremont Graduate University