Exploring the Nature, Prevalence, and Predictors of Police Use of Force During Terry Stops

• In Event: Investigatory Stops by Police

Abstract

Questions surrounding stop, question, and frisk (SQF) practices have focused almost exclusively on racial and ethnic disproportionality in the rate of stops, and whether police are engaged in racial profiling. This near-sole focus on the stop decision has overshadowed important questions about the use of force during Terry stops, resulting in a major gap in our understanding of the dynamics of SQF encounters. The current study addresses this issue through an examination of the nature, prevalence, and predictors of use of force during Terry stops, using SQF data from the New York Police Department (2012; n=519,948). Results indicate that use of force was an infrequent event in NYPD stops (14%), and weapon force was quite rare (.01%). However, hierarchical multinomial logistic regression models show that Black and Hispanic citizens were significantly more likely to experience non-weapon force than white citizens, while controlling for other relevant situational and precinct-level variables.The study highlights the importance of expanding the focus on SQF beyond the racial profiling lens, as questions about the dynamics of police use of force decision-making raise equally important social and legal concerns.

Authors

• Weston James Morrow, University of Nevada, Reno

• Michael White, Arizona State University

• Hank Fradella, Arizona State University