Policing in a Largely Minority Jurisdiction: The Influence of Appearance Characteristics Associated with Contemporary Hip-Hop Culture on Police Decision-Making

The problem of entanglement: Biases and fallacies in police conflict management

“…These biases may interact with those held by citizens, creating a greater potential for such disparities (Mears et al, 2017). Irrelevant contextual information also includes a citizen’s appearance, as indicated in a study investigating the effects of appearance factors associated with contemporary hip-hop culture (Dabney et al, 2017). The results showed that a “hip-hop appearance” was a predictor of more severe formal outcomes imposed by police officers when compared with other relevant predictors.…”

Psychological and sociological factors influencing police officers' decisions to use force: A systematic literature review

“…They found considerable variability related to the ethnicity of the suspect and the police officer, with greater intermediate weapon use in all combinations of officer/citizen ethnicity compared to White-White dyads, except for Hispanic-Hispanic (0.58 versus 1 for White-White). With regard to ethnic minority groups, attire and appearance that reinforce stereotypes, such as dreadlocks or an "Afro" cut, aggravate the ethnic bias towards the suspect (Dabney et al, 2017). Finally, indicators tend to show that negative cultural perceptions, such as bias against certain ethnic groups, reinforce the phenomenon, exponentially so when the suspect is convinced that the police are going to arrest him because they are biased towards him (Mears et al, 2017).…”

“…In addition, some factors receive considerable attention that appears unrelated to their actual influence on the decision to use force. For example, the ethnicity of the suspect or the police officer has been the subject of a disproportionately large number of studies and their findings are contradictory (Buehler, 2017;Dabney et al, 2017;Fridell, & Lim, 2016;James, 2012;Mears et al, 2017;Morrow, White, & Fradella, 2017;Paoline III, Gau & Terrill, 2018;Shane, Lawton, & Swenson, 2017;Jetelina, et al, 2017;Kahn, et al, 2017). Indeed, while some authors found that Blacks were 2.8 times more likely than…”

Rap music, race, and perceptions of crime

“…The belief that rap music is strongly associated with crime also influences approaches towards crime control. For example, Dabney, Teasdale, Ishoy, Gann, and Berry () explored how appearance characteristics associated with rap music (e.g., braids, wearing sagging pants, and having artificial gold teeth) inform police arrest decisions. After analyzing 934 police–citizen interactions, Dabney and his colleagues found that citizens displaying appearance characteristics associated with rap music were three times more likely to be arrested than not be arrested, even when controlling for relevant legal factors (e.g., suspect demeanor, priors, and seriousness of the offense).…”

“…For example, sociologists and criminologists can explore how racialized attitudes about culture are linked to criminal justice decision making (e.g., arrest, sentencing, and probation). Prior studies have already examined the relationship between appearance characteristics (e.g., clothing choices and tattoos) and arrest decisions (e.g., Camacho & Brown, ; Dabney et al, ), yet research rarely examines how the race of the offender mediates this relationship. Research also does not often explore the types of character attributions made based on cultural expressions (e.g., violent natured), nor how these attributions contribute to criminal justice outcomes, a relevant site of exploration given concerns that racial discrimination is now more covert and culture‐centered.…”