Police Culture and Agency Diversity: Examining Competing Institutional Forces through a Consideration of Hate Crime Reporting Behavior

• In Event: Ecological Variation in Hate Crime Offending, Formal Responses, and Group Threat Processes

Abstract

Objectives: Examine the countervailing forces between police culture and agency composition and the subsequent effect on hate crime reporting outcomes. Our goals are to better understand police agency decision-making, to provide context for hate crime reporting decisions, and to deepen our understanding of hate crime data. Methods: Using 2007 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) data, 2008 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA) data and 2008-2016 FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data, multinomial logistical regression models are used to estimate the relationship between agency demographic composition and hate crime reporting outcomes. Results: Agencies with high percentages of Black officers are more likely to ceremoniously comply with hate crime reporting requests compared to any other outcome; bias units, on the other hand, are associated with an increased likelihood of true compliance. Conclusions: While racial diversity is often associated with performative reporting of hate crime statistics, bias units may represent an important indicator of an agency’s commitment to policing hate crimes.

Authors

• Nicole Assenmacher, Florida State University

• Brendan Lantz, Florida State University

• Marin Wenger, Florida State University