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How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: Your Reputation Depends on It!

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How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: Your Reputation Depends on It! Your Reputation Depends Your on it! How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: Your Reputation Depends On It! FOR MORE INFORMATION: U.S. Department of Justice Authors: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W. Joyce McMahon, Ph.D. Washington, DC 20530 Joel Garner, Ph.D. Captain Ronald Davis To obtain details on the COPS Office program, call the Amanda Kraus, Ph.D. COPS Response Center at 800.421.6770 Visit COPS Online at the address listed below. e06064106 Reprinted: July 5, 2006 www.cops.usdoj.gov www.cops.usdoj.gov How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data:: Your Reputation Depends On It! Authors: Joyce McMahon, Ph.D. Joel Garner, Ph.D. Captain Ronald Davis Amanda Kraus, Ph.D. Prepared by: Suggested Citation McMahon, Joyce, Garner, Joel, Davis, Ronald and Kraus, Amanda, How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data: Your Reputation Depends On It!, Final Project Report for Racial Profiling Data Collection and Analysis. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2002). This project was supported by Contract Number GS-23F-8096H by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Points of view or opinions contained in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. TableIntroduction of Contents i TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter From the Director . iii About the Authors . v Executive Summary . 1 1.0 Overview and Recommendations ...................................................... 5 1.1 Overview and Scope ............................................................ 5 1.2 Approach and Conclusions ....................................................... 6 1.3 Recommendations ............................................................. 9 2.0 Introduction ....................................................................... 13 2.1 Background ................................................................... 13 2.2 Specific Tasking ............................................................... 13 2.3 Study Approach ............................................................... 14 2.4 Project Scope and Limitations .................................................... 14 3.0 Methodology ...................................................................... 17 3.1 Overview of Issues ............................................................. 17 3.2 Selection of Participating Cities ................................................... 17 3.3 Literature Review of Data Collection/Analysis Efforts ................................. 18 3.4 Conferences With Subject Matter Experts and City Representatives . 19 3.5 Site Visits/Technical Assistance .................................................. 20 3.6 Subject Matter Expertise: Perspectives From NOBLE ................................. 20 4.0 Literature Review of Data Collection and Analysis Approaches .............................. 23 4.1 Classification of Approaches and Findings .......................................... 23 4.2 Beyond Comparison Groups: Bivariate Versus Multivariate Methodologies . 32 4.3 Recommended Analytical Approaches ............................................. 43 4.4 Maximizing the Utility of Future Research .......................................... 51 5.0 Findings From the Conferences ....................................................... 53 5.1 City Representation ............................................................ 53 5.2 Composition of Participating City Groups ........................................... 53 5.3 Areas of Agreement ............................................................ 61 5.4 Sources of Disagreement ........................................................ 62 5.5 Recommendations from Conference Participants ..................................... 63 6.0 Report on Site Visits ................................................................ 69 6.1 Technical Assistance Visits ...................................................... 69 6.2 Status of Data Collection Efforts .................................................. 71 6.3 Overall Recommendations for Technical Assistance ................................... 79 ii How to Correctly Collect and Analyze Racial Profiling Data 7.0 Subject Matter Expertise: Viewpoints From NOBLE ................................... 81 7.1 Positives and Negatives of Data Collection ..................................... 83 7.2 Interactions: Mayor, Police Chief, Media, Community ............................. 95 7.3 Recommendations: How to Eliminate Biased Policing ............................. 97 7.4 Advice for Departments Accused of Racial Profiling ............................... 98 7.5 Why Some Chiefs Decline to Collect Data ...................................... 100 7.6 Overall Recommendations ................................................... 102 8.0 Discussion and Conclusions ...................................................... 105 8.1 Data Collection: Costs and Benefits ........................................... 106 8.2 Technical Expertise Issues for Local Departments ................................ 107 8.3 Leveraging Resources Via Outside Partnerships (e.g., Academic) . 108 8.4 Value of Objective Information Versus Anecdotal Information . 109 8.5 Importance of Communication and Community Interactions ........................ 109 8.6 Recommendations for Further Study ........................................... 110 Appendices A. Tables for Chapter 4 ............................................................. 113 B. Conference Agenda, August ....................................................... 125 C. Conference Agenda, October ...................................................... 127 D. Bibliography for CD of References .................................................. 129 E. Recommendations: How to Eliminate Biased Policing (Blindfolds for Justice) . 135 Bibliography ...................................................................... 145 Letter From Introductionthe Director iii LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR Racial profiling is one of the most highly visible and important issues facing law enforcement today. Recent surveys show that more than 60 percent of Americans believe that racial profiling exists. Because of this widespread consensus among the public at large, the law enforcement community is working directly and proactively to address this issue. The mere perception of the existence of racial profiling can have a profound negative impact on the level of public trust afforded to the police. One such negative impact is to compromise the mutual respect between law enforcement and community members. This mutual respect often represents significant efforts of both groups. The public's perceptions of a law enforcement agency's commitment to ethical policing and respect for those it serves can help keep honest mistakes from becoming high-profile incidents. A reputation for ethical and equitable enforcement of the law can go a long way towards earning an agency the benefit of the doubt in difficult situations. Law enforcement agencies should work objectively to determine if racial profiling exists within their departments to be able to take steps to deal with the problem if it is found to be present and to address the public perception of its existence. Through funding from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), the CNA Corporation developed this resource to help law enforcement address racial profiling data collection and analysis. This publication provides a summary of the many important methodological issues surrounding this topic. In addition, it provides advice to law enforcement practitioners on how to more accurately collect and analyze racial profiling data in an easy-to-read and usable format. The COPS Office has a tradition of supporting efforts to increase public trust and police integrity. Reducing racial profiling and the public's perception of it is a way to further not only that goal, but also COPS' broader goal to advance community policing. This publication is an important part of that tradition. Sincerely, Carl R. Peed Director, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services About Introductionthe Authors v ABOUT THE AUTHORS Joyce S. McMahon Dr. Joyce McMahon is a Deputy for the Resource Analysis Division with 14 years of experience at The CNA Corporation. Dr. McMahon has been active in the field of economic analysis and evaluation for over 25 years, and is an expert in applied econometric techniques. She is widely experienced in program evaluation and has directed a number of analytical evaluation studies for various government agencies, including the Department of Justice, Veterans Affairs, the Commission on National and Community Service, the Federal Aviation Administration, and numerous DoD and Navy agencies. Dr. McMahon earned her Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. Before coming to CNAC, she taught at the University of Texas - Arlington, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Missouri–Columbia, and consulted for the Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General. Joel H. Garner Dr. Joel Garner is the Director of Research at the Joint Centers for Justice Studies, Inc. Between 1974 and 1990, he was a research program manager at the National Institute of Justice. Dr. Garner has published several
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