Institutional Structures of Racialized Policing within NYPD

• In Event: The Legacy of Racialized Policing Policy and Practices within the New York Police Department

Abstract

After the George Floyd tragedy, calls for criminal justice reform have been initiated by municipalities throughout the nation. In New York City, the City Council promulgated the NYC Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative that has as key components acknowledgement of the harm of racialized policing through truth telling and reconciliation with communities that have been impacted. To this end, emerging studies of racialized policing primarily focus on measures that have a direct effect on impacted communities. These measures include arrests, uses of force, stop question and frisk, and officer-involved killings that disproportionally impact communities of color.

However, the NYCPRR Collaborative plan also recognizes that persistent structures within NYPD may be tolerant of racialized policing. In this investigation, we conduct a systematic review and content analysis of research that has analyzed NYPD internal structure that potentially undergirds racialized policing. We focus particularly on policies and practices associated with recruitment, hiring, training, promotions, special duty assignments, employee complaints and satisfaction, performance monitoring, and discipline. We hypothesize that outward manifestations of racialized policing that impact communities may be intrinsically linked to internal values/practices within NYPD. Therefore, efforts to reform NYPD should begin with a transformation of institutional values that reinforce racialized policing.

Authors

• Frank Pezzella, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Joel Capellan, Rowan University

• Valli Rajah, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Dan Stageman, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Rachael Arietti, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Arlana Henry, Rutgers University