Does It Exist? Studying Citizens’ Attitudes of Racial Profiling

• Author: John Reitzel,Alex R. Piquero
• Published date: 01 June 2006
• Date: 01 June 2006
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1098611104264743
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/1098611104264743ARTICLEPOLICE QUARTERLY (Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2006)Reitzel, Piquero / ATTITUDES OF RACIAL PROFILING

DOES ITEXIST?

STUDYING CITIZENS’ ATTITUDES

OF RACIAL PROFILING

JOHN REITZEL

Illinois State University

ALEX R. PIQUERO

University of Florida

A controversialissue in policing is the alleged use of racial profilingby police

to stop, search, question, or frisk citizens. Currently, only a small amount of

empirical research exists concerning the practice of racial profiling. The

empirical evidence that does exist has shown substantial minority over-

representation in both police stops and searches.Moreover, almost all stud-

ies to date have focused on empirical study of police practices, thus leaving

out one crucial element—the perspective of citizens. In this study, the authors

use data from a random sample of New York City residents to study their per-

ceptions of—and experiences with—racial profiling. In particular, factors

are examined that relateto the perception that racial profiling is widespread,

justified, and the extentof direct experience that citizens have had with racial

profiling.

Keywords: racial profiling; citizen attitudes; policing

Racial profiling, or “driving while Black” as it is often referred to, is the

alleged law enforcement practice of using skin color as a pretext to stop,

question, or search minorities—although it may not necessarily be limited

to traffic stops and can occur during any situation in which minorities are

stopped by law enforcement officials (Cooper, 2002; Gabor, 2001; Harris,

1999; Russell, 1999; Smith & Petrocelli, 2001; Walker, 2001). Weitzer and

Tuch (2002) recently referred to racial profiling as the “use of race as a key

factor in police decisions to stop and interrogate citizens” (p. 435). Al-

though some form of profiling in law enforcement has long been a practice

POLICE QUARTERLY Vol. 9 No. 2, June 2006 161–183

DOI: 10.1177/1098611104264743

© 2006 Sage Publications

employed by police (Piliavin & Briar, 1964), it is only over the past few

years that it has become a controversial topic in political, academic, and

social arenas (Russell, 2001).

At the core of the racial profiling issue is the supposition that police tar-

get minorities, particularly Blacks, during their normal patrol duties with

the belief that minorities are more likely to be guilty of having committed a

crime than will have Whites (Walker, 2001). According to Russell (1999),

“Blackness has become an acceptable ‘risk factor’ for criminal behavior”

(p. 721). Although evidence shows that Blacks are overrepresented in offi-

cial and self-report records regarding criminal activity, especially violent

crime (Blumstein, Cohen, Roth, & Visher, 1986; Elliott, 1994), racial pro-

filing ensues in a particularly new niche within a broader context of alleged

systemic racism in the criminal justice system (Miller, 1996; Tonry, 1995).

Accordingly, many civil libertariansargue that racially biased policing is a

primary cause for “tens of thousands of motorists each year” to fall victim to

racial profiling (American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU], 1999).

Crime control policies of the Reagan and Bush administration in the

1980s, which many academics believe to be partially responsible for the

increased use of policing tactics such as racial profiling, have been dis-

astrous for minorities, particularly young Black males (Harris, 1999;

Lamberth, 1998; Tonry, 1995). Likewise, young males, especially young

Black males in their late teens and early twenties, are disproportionately

represented in arrest statistics and thus, as a social group, are often the tar-

gets of the police. In recent years, however, as racial profiling emergedas a

highly visible intersection of racism and policing, the broader problem of

racially biased policing has become considerably more important.

The other side of the racial profiling debate concerns citizens’ percep-

tions of the police. Although there are frequent reports of police depart-

ments suffering image problems due to highly publicized cases of police

misconduct, conflict between police and citizens is a problem faced by

almost all law enforcement agencies in their daily interaction with the pub-

lic. Research regarding police perceptions has shown that, generally, citi-

zens hold favorable opinions toward the police (Brandl, Frank, Worden, &

Bynum, 1994). However, opinions are less favorable concerning specific

contact with the police, and it is unfavorable conflict that is highlighted

most often in the media. The cumulative effects of negative incidents be-

tween police and the citizens that they are charged to protect may influence

the perceptions of the general public more so than the positive things that

police do, such as apprehending dangerous criminals and protecting the

162 POLICE QUARTERLY (Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2006)