Protecting Equity: The Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity Report on the San Jose Police Department

The goal of this project was to identify what role (if any) individual officers played in the production of any observed racial/ethnic disparities and provide the San Jose Police Department (SJDP) and the broader San Jose community with new tools with which to measure--and improve--racial equity in San Jose policing. This assessment broadly engages three areas of possible disparity: pedestrian stops, complaints against an officer, and officer use of force against residents. The results reveal two major findings. First, individual officers play a significant role in producing a culture of equitable treatment at the SJPD. Second, the analyses reveal a novel way to use existing data to assess officer-level disparities.

The criminogenic and psychological effects of police stops on adolescent black and Latino boys

Proactive policing, the strategic targeting of people or places to prevent crimes,is a well-studied tactic that is ubiquitous in modern law enforcement. A 2017 National Academies of Sciences report reviewed existing literature, entrenched in deterrence theory, and found evidence that proactive policing strategies can reduce crime. The existing literature, however, does not explore what the short and long-term effects of police contact are for young people who are subjected to high rates of contact with law enforcement as a result of proactive policing. Using four waves of longitudinal survey data from a sample of predominantly black and Latino boys in ninth and tenth grades, we find that adolescent boys who are stopped by police report more frequent engagement in delinquent behavior 6, 12, and 18 months later, independent of prior delinquency, a finding that is consistent with labeling and life course theories. We also find that psychological distress partially mediates this relationship, consistent with the often stated, but rarely measured, mechanism for adolescent criminality hypothesized by general strain theory. These findings advance the scientific understanding of crime and adolescent development while also raising policy questions about the efficacy of routine police stops of black and Latino youth. Police stops predict decrements in adolescents’ psychological well-being and may unintentionally increase their engagement in criminal behavior

Police Officers’ Willingness to Criminalize Minors and Their Views Toward Age of Criminal Responsibility

For the past half century, researchers have been highlighting the disparities that exist in policing and the negative impact disparate policing has on Black communities across the country. The disparities are particularly disheartening for Black children and young adults, who are over-represented at every stage of the criminal legal system. This study examines if officer demographics, psychological attitudes, department policies, or neighborhood characteristics are associated with officer attitudes about young people who commit crimes, whether they can be rehabilitated, whether peer pressure should be considered when deciding on a punishment, and at what age people should be held legally responsible for their actions. Regression analyses found variables at the micro, mezzo, and macro level were associated with officers’ willingness to criminalize minors and law enforcement’s views on age of criminal responsibility. Endorsement of community policing, trust in community, internal procedural justice, and perception of community respect were negatively associated with willingness to criminalize minors (officers less willing to criminalize minors), while feelings toward Black people, past assignment, and perceived supervisor fairness were positively associated with willingness to criminalize minors (officers more willing to criminalize minors). Implicit bias, explicit bias, social dominance orientation, and supervisor fairness were associated with officers endorsement of younger ages of criminal responsibility, while internal procedural justice and trust in the community were associated with endorsement of a higher age of criminal responsibility. This study has the potential to influence law enforcement policies and procedures

Police Officers’ Willingness to Criminalize Minors and Their Views Toward Age of Criminal Responsibility

For the past half century, researchers have been highlighting the disparities that exist in policing and the negative impact disparate policing has on Black communities across the country. The disparities are particularly disheartening for Black children and young adults, who are over-represented at every stage of the criminal legal system. This study examines if officer demographics, psychological attitudes, department policies, or neighborhood characteristics are associated with officer attitudes about young people who commit crimes, whether they can be rehabilitated, whether peer pressure should be considered when deciding on a punishment, and at what age people should be held legally responsible for their actions. Regression analyses found variables at the micro, mezzo, and macro level were associated with officers’ willingness to criminalize minors and law enforcement’s views on age of criminal responsibility. Endorsement of community policing, trust in community, internal procedural justice, and perception of community respect were negatively associated with willingness to criminalize minors (officers less willing to criminalize minors), while feelings toward Black people, past assignment, and perceived supervisor fairness were positively associated with willingness to criminalize minors (officers more willing to criminalize minors). Implicit bias, explicit bias, social dominance orientation, and supervisor fairness were associated with officers endorsement of younger ages of criminal responsibility, while internal procedural justice and trust in the community were associated with endorsement of a higher age of criminal responsibility. This study has the potential to influence law enforcement policies and procedures

The criminogenic and psychological effects of police stops on adolescent black and Latino boys.

Proactive policing, the strategic targeting of people or places to prevent crimes, is a well-studied tactic that is ubiquitous in modern law enforcement. A 2017 National Academies of Sciences report reviewed existing literature, entrenched in deterrence theory, and found evidence that proactive policing strategies can reduce crime. The existing literature, however, does not explore what the short and long-term effects of police contact are for young people who are subjected to high rates of contact with law enforcement as a result of proactive policing. Using four waves of longitudinal survey data from a sample of predominantly black and Latino boys in ninth and tenth grades, we find that adolescent boys who are stopped by police report more frequent engagement in delinquent behavior 6, 12, and 18 months later, independent of prior delinquency, a finding that is consistent with labeling and life course theories. We also find that psychological distress partially mediates this relationship, consistent with the often stated, but rarely measured, mechanism for adolescent criminality hypothesized by general strain theory. These findings advance the scientific understanding of crime and adolescent development while also raising policy questions about the efficacy of routine police stops of black and Latino youth. Police stops predict decrements in adolescents' psychological well-being and may unintentionally increase their engagement in criminal behavior