Neighborhood Context of Police Behavior (From Communities and Crime, P 313-341, 1986, Albert J Reiss, Jr and Michael Tonry, eds. - See NCJ-103315)

• NCJ Number: 103324
• Author(s): D A Smith
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 29 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-0020; 84-IJ-CX-0011
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This study assesses the degree to which discretionary police behaviors, such as making arrests, filing reports of victimizations, and exercising coercive authority toward citizens are influenced by the type of neighborhood in which police-citizen encounters occur.

Abstract

Using 5 measures of police behavior and 11 neighborhood characteristics, this study analyzed data from 60 neighborhoods in Rochester, N.Y.; St. Louis, Mo.; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.; that were collected in 1977. The results showed that police offered more assistance to residents and initiated more contacts with suspicious persons and suspected violators in racially heterogeneous neighborhoods. They were less likely to stop suspicious persons in high-crime areas. Suspects encountered by police in lower-status neighborhoods ran three times the risk of arrest compared with offenders encountered in higher status neighborhoods, regardless of crime type, offender's race and demeanor, and victim preferences for arrest. Variation in police use of coercive authority was linked to the racial composition of the neighborhood, but was not attributable to the race of individuals confronted by the police. Officers were less likely to file incident reports in higher-crime neighborhoods. Tables and 29 references. (Author abstract modified)