Retrospective Criminal Investigations: How Does Victim and Suspect Race and Ethnicity Impact Processing and Case Outcomes?

• In Event: Investigating Police Misconduct

Abstract

Prior research indicates that racial and ethnic minorities are overrepresented at nearly every stage of the criminal justice process; however, no empirical research, to this effect, has looked at retrospective criminal investigations. This is surprising, given the wealth of discretion offered to detectives and prevalence of fictional depictions of retrospective criminal investigations. To understand how detective work operates within the context, self-report data from 184 detectives with the Houston Police Department were paired with incident report files among assigned cases during the period of analysis. By evaluating racial and ethnic differences in the cases worked, how long they were worked, and if there was an arrest in the case, these results are posed to contribute to debates on racial disparity in the criminal justice system.

Authors

• Lisa Angstrom, Florida Atlantic University

• Seth Fallik, Florida Atlantic University