Drunk, Drugged, and Disorderly: Examining Neighborhood Non-violent Arrest Rates Across Race/Ethnicity

• In Event: Policing, Offenders, Victims, and the Spatial Distribution of Crime

Abstract

Research examining neighborhood structure, race, and crime focuses predominantly on UCR Part 1 violent and serious property crimes. Less research assesses neighborhoods and Part 2 crimes, such as public drunkenness, drugs, or disorderly conduct. Law enforcement exercises more discretion policing these “lower level” crimes, which may result in differential arrests across racial/ethnic groups net of neighborhood conditions. In this study, we control for economic inequality and neighborhood demographic and structural characteristics, to examine arrest rates for non-Hispanic White, Black, and Hispanic men over a six year period in a small representative city in the south.

Authors

• Alyssa Chamberlain, Arizona State University

• Lyndsay N. Boggess, University of South Florida