The Effect of One's Social Class on the Likelihood Regarding the Practice of Stop, Question and Frisk

• In Event: Roundtable: Policing - Stop and Search

Abstract

This research will prove that class bias exists within the law enforcement component of the criminal justice system because police officers are more likely to conduct stop, question and frisks in neighborhoods where a majority of residents are considered to be poor and fall below the Federal Government’s poverty line. For purposes of this research, social class will be measured in terms of personal income, employment status/prestige, wealth and level of education. The hypothesis that will be tested states that the lower these aforementioned attributes of social class, the higher one’s likelihood of having an encounter with law enforcement which involves the practice of stop, question and frisk. There has been much research documented which clearly shows that social class does matter at every stage in the criminal justice process. The intent here is to show that class bias on the part of local law enforcement in the City of New York is a variable that is of considerable significance in the decision to conduct a stop, question and frisk. Henceforth, when it comes to the confrontation on the street between a police officer and a private citizen, social class matters.

Author

• Frank Mercogliano, Manhattan College