Schools are a Hotbed of Crime? A Spatial Point Pattern Analysis of School Segregation and Juvenile Arrests in New York City

• In Event: Stop-and-Frisk Research

Abstract

Stop-and-frisk practices have become a central part of modern-day policing in America since ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1968, yet the controversy over these practices—in particular, the race-related controversy—has grown over time, reaching a fever pitch. New York City has one of the country's most racially segregated educational systems. Little empirical research has been done to examine the relationship between school segregation and racial disparities in stop-and-frisk practices. To quantitatively assess the relationship between school segregation and police stops, spatial point pattern analyses are performed to examine the first order and second order effects. We offer a hypothesis that school segregation is associated with racial disparities in stop-and-frisk practices as applied to juveniles. Using a spatial point pattern analysis, we then investigate the contours of this hypothesis.

Authors

• Haemi Won, State University of New York, University at Albany

• Shao-Chiu Juan, University at Albany, SUNY

• Shiguo Jiang, State University of New York, University at Albany