Police Misconduct Outcomes in New York City: The Effect of Offense Severity and Race

• In Event: Police Misconduct and Accountability

Abstract

Police misconduct cases have become highly publicized in recent years. Communities of color are less likely to trust police officers in part due to a lack of accountability for alleged misconduct. Expanding on our previous study focusing on race, gender and neighborhood, this study investigates how types of offenses and race may affect police misconduct adjudication outcomes in New York City. We utilize a database of over 12,000 civilian complaints filed against New York City police officers from 1985 to 2020. Our findings indicate that police misconduct outcomes are in fact more severe for violent police misconduct cases, however this relationship is mitigated by race/ethnicity. These results suggest that the severity of offenses have an effect on the adjudication outcomes of both citizens and police officers.

Authors

• Marcus Johnson, American University

• Charlotte Lopez-Jauffret, American University

• Tayler Shreve, American University