Poster #25 - Beyond Stop and Frisk: Examination of Physical Disparities in the Decision to Stop and Frisk

• In Event: ASC Poster Session I

Abstract

Stop-and-frisk police practices have presented opportunities for targeted discrimination. The impact of discrimination practices in policing has a significant and established effect on the police’s ability to act within a community (Tyler, Faga, & Geller, 2014; Tyler, Jackson, & Mentovich, 2015). Their legitimacy in neighborhoods, and adherence to procedural justice, have implications on communities’ willingness and ability to cooperate and engage with law enforcement. Current research reflects that black and Hispanic males are stopped and arrested at higher rates disproportionate to their population in the community (Gelman, Faga, & Kiss. 2012). Further, stops targeting white individuals are done with more purpose, intent, and efficiency compared to the stops enacted on people of color (Gelman, Faga, & Kiss. 2012; Evans, Maragh, & Porter, 2014; Levchak, 2021). The current study of stop and Frisk data in NYC, an analysis of 25,386 stops in New York City in 2024, will attempt to fill gaps in discrimination and identify further physical characteristics that lead officers to consider the duration of their stops and its results. Independent of race and ethnicity, the current study will identify other offender features that play a significant impact on an officer’s decision to exercise authority.

Author

• Kevin Patrick Lopez, American University