Explaining the Decision to Arrest

Engel, Robin S.; Worden, Robert E.; Corsaro, Nicholas; McManus, Hannah D.; Reynolds, Danielle; Cochran, Hannah; Isaza, Gabrielle T.; Cherkauskas, Jennifer Calnon

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17054-7_3

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 175 publications

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“…Against this backdrop, we evaluate the extent to which veteran status is a significant predictor of suspect resistance during an arrest. Most empirical research on arrest encounters focuses on the antecedents of police use of force, one of which is suspect resistance-an "encounter characteristic" that is among the most robust in terms of its predictive value (Engel et al, 2019). For example, a recent meta-analysis on use of force predictors based on 19 studies and 44 separate analyses across 12 data sets found that suspect resistance yielded one of the largest mean effect sizes (OR = 2.97), surpassing offense seriousness (OR = 1.46), suspect intoxication (OR = 1.31), and all other demographic characteristics, including those of the responding officer (Bolger, 2015).…”

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Hazardous Duty: Investigating Resistance to Police at the Point of Arrest Among Incarcerated Military Veterans

Morgan

Logan

Arnio

2021

Armed Forces & Society

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The link between military service and crime has been a subject of investigation for several decades. Although research has examined the likelihood of arrest, incarceration, and recidivism across military cohorts, relatively little is known about the circumstances surrounding police contact and suspect behavior at the exact moment of arrest. This is a critical oversight given that what transpires during an arrest can have a marked impact on downstream criminal justice outcomes, including access to diversionary programming like veterans treatment courts. Using a nationally representative survey of prison inmates, this study analyzes veteran and nonveteran self-reports of their arrest controlling for a host of relevant demographic, mental health, and criminal history variables. Findings indicate that veterans are significantly less likely to resist the police at arrest. These results provide further support to the sentiment that military culture and training can have a lasting behavioral influence on those who experience it.

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Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Hazardous Duty: Investigating Resistance to Police at the Point of Arrest Among Incarcerated Military Veterans

Morgan

Logan

Arnio

2021

Armed Forces & Society

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“…Drug policing in neighborhoods of color can create cumulative disparities in charging (and sentencing), as increased prior records stemming from concentrated drug enforcement results in greater charging and sentencing further down the line (King 2019; Spohn 2000). Even if charges are never filed by prosecutors, police often use arrest records in arrest and charging decisions (Allen 1984; Engel et al 2019). Thus, racial-ethnic inequalities in drug arrest charges may be at least partially a function of police organizational imperatives.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Police and Prosecutorial Drug Charging: Analyzing Organizational Overlap in Charging Patterns at Arrest, Filing, and Conviction

Johnson

Omori

Petersen

2022

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

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Objective: Explore racial-ethnic disparities in drug charging trajectories from arrest to conviction. Methods: We analyze racial-ethnic disparities in charging severity across arrest, filing, and conviction for felony drug offense cases in Miami-Dade County between 2010-2015 (N=25,559) using a “distance traveled” approach by estimating the severity of charges based on the probability of incarceration at conviction. We use these estimates to predict the severity of charges at arrest and filing, and examine differences in the severity of charges between stages. Results: Compared to White non-Latinx people, police charge Black Latinx people with drug crimes that are 1.8 times more severe and Black non-Latinx people with drug crimes that are 1.6 times more severe at arrest. These inequalities are maintained throughout the charging trajectory. Greater charge reductions occur between arrest and filing than between filing and conviction, highlighting the importance of police in charging trajectories. We find small increases in charging trajectory, where racial-ethnic disparities persist at conviction. Conclusions: Examining charging at arrest is critical to understanding racial-ethnic disparities in charging trajectories, where unequal arrest charges become institutionalized throughout the charging process. Organizational dynamics between police and prosecutors may lead to drug charging practices that systematically disadvantage Black people in Miami-Dade County.

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“…A long tradition of research seeks to establish the more general causes of arrests (for reviews, see Engel et al., 2019; Riksheim & Chermak, 1993; Sherman, 1980). Perhaps the most common finding of this research is the importance of legal considerations and factors such as suspects’ behaviors in influencing the decision to arrest.…”

Section: Prior Scholarship On Race Place and Policingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although valuable and complementary to our focus, such work has not directly modeled the extent to which citywide racial disparities reflect the concentration of arrests in specific places. Similarly, although there is over half a century of research on the causes of arrests more generally (Engel et al., 2019; Riksheim & Chermak, 1993; Sherman, 1980), this tradition has yet to document the spatial concentration of arrests that results from the variety of factors that shape police behavior.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Where racial and ethnic disparities in policing come from: The spatial concentration of arrests across six cities

Neil

MacDonald

2022

Criminology & Public Policy

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This study examines the extent to which citywide racial and ethnic disparities in arrests are driven by a subset of places within cities. Data are drawn from six U.S. cities from 2014 to 2019. Results indicate that arrests are strongly concentrated within a few block groups, for all race and ethnicities in all cities. Coupled with higher rates of arrests for Blacks and (in some cities) Hispanics compared to Whites and other racial groups, this means that a few places in every city are responsible for driving citywide racial and ethnic disparities in arrests. These arrest hot spots demonstrate very high year-to-year stability. There is a strong relationship between crime and arrest hot spots, making crime hot spots key drivers of citywide racial and ethnic disparities in arrests. Policy Implications: Our results indicate that changes to arrest patterns in most parts of a city will have little impact on citywide racial and ethnic disparities in arrests. At the same time, an intense focus on reducing arrests in hot spots may yield outsized reductions in population-level racial and ethnic disparities, while being especially feasible due to their limited scope.Place-based and group-based interventions at these locations may entail the dual benefit of reduced racial disparities in arrests along with enhanced public safety.

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Explaining the Decision to Arrest

Cited by 5 publications

References 175 publications

Hazardous Duty: Investigating Resistance to Police at the Point of Arrest Among Incarcerated Military Veterans

Hazardous Duty: Investigating Resistance to Police at the Point of Arrest Among Incarcerated Military Veterans

Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Police and Prosecutorial Drug Charging: Analyzing Organizational Overlap in Charging Patterns at Arrest, Filing, and Conviction

Where racial and ethnic disparities in policing come from: The spatial concentration of arrests across six cities

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