The Effects of Race and Physical Evidence on the Likelihood of Arrest for Homicide

• Author: Maria Arndt,Lisa Stolzenberg,Stewart J. D’Alessio
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/2153368719900358
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Effects of Race and

Physical Evidence on the

Likelihood of Arrest

for Homicide

Maria Arndt

1

, Lisa Stolzenberg

1

, and

Stewart J. D’Alessio

1

Abstract

Previous research examining the association between criminal suspect’s race and the

likelihood of arrest has produced inconsistent findings. Social scientists remain unsure

as to whether Black or White criminal suspects have a higher probability of arrest. Still

others find no substantive association between a criminal suspect’s race and the

likelihood of arrest. This study contributes to the extant literature by examining the

relationship between a criminal suspect’s race and the arrest sanction for the crime of

homicide while controlling for the strength of physical evidence linking the criminal

suspect to the crime. Although strength of physical evidence against a defendant in a

criminal case has been repeatedly shown to be important in determining a variety of

criminal justice processing outcomes, it has typically been excluded from research

studies examining the arrest decision due to data limitations. Logistic regression

results show that Black homicide suspects are not more likely than similarly situated

White homicide suspects to be arrested by police. Results also show that Black-on-

White homicides are not more apt than other offender–victim racial combinations to

culminate in an arrest. Based on these findings, it appears that a homicide suspect’s

race does not play a noteworthy role in influencing the likelihood of arrest after

accounting for the strength of physical evidence gathered against the criminal suspect

in the case.

Keywords

race, homicide, strength of physical evidence, arrest

1

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Lisa Stolzenberg, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida International University, 11200

SW 8th Street, PCA 253A, Miami, FL 33199, USA.

Email: stolzenb@fiu.edu

Race and Justice

ªThe Author(s) 2020

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/2153368719900358

journals.sagepub.com/home/raj

2022, Vol. 12(4) 623–643

Background

The effect of criminal suspect’s race on the likelihood of arrest has been studied

extensively. It is generally accepted that Black citizens are arrested at higher rates than

Whites or any other racial group for that matter. While representing approximately

13%of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018), Blacks account for 27%of

arrests for both misdemeanor and felonies. Black citizens also have an elevated

proclivity of being apprehended by the police for the crime of homicide. They account

for roughly 53%of the homicide arrests made by police (Uniform Crime Report,

2018). This figure has also remained relatively constant over time (Cooper &

Smith, 2011).

Although researchers generally agree that racial disparities exist in the use of the

arrest sanction for homicide and for most other crimes, the exact causal mechanisms

responsible for the overrepresentation of Black citizens in arrest statistics are far less

clear. Two broad perspectives have been advanced in the literature to account for the

observed racial disparity in the use of the arrest sanction. Normative theories argue

that there is simply differential criminal offending across racial groups, which in turn

accounts for the higher arrest rate for Black citizens. These types of theories usually

emphasize the differential effects of social factors such as poverty, economic

inequality, and family structure in explicating the observed racial disparity in criminal

offending (Stults & Swagar, 2018).

In contrast, conflict theory posits that the race of the criminal suspect is a relevant

determining factor in a police officer’s decision to effectuate an arrest for a given

criminal offense. It is plausible that because Blacks are more likely than Whites to

distrust police (Newport, 2014), they are more apt to show police officers disrespect

(Correll et al., 2007) and ignore orders for compliance during citizen/police

encounters (Skogan & Frydl, 2004). These factors can amplify the likelihood that a

Black criminal suspect will be arrested by police because deference shown toward a

police officer attenuates the probability of arrest (Smith & Visher, 1981). Black cit-

izens may also have an enhanced likelihood of arrest because not only of their hesi-

tancy to show deference to police, but they are perceived by many as being more

dangerous and prone to criminality than other races. Survey research also shows that

Whites frequently view Blacks in society as more violent and as being more inclined

to partake in criminal behavior than other races (Quillian & Pager, 2001). Research

also finds that Whites are more concerned with crime than other racial groups and that

this fear is amplified when linked to Blacks in urban and local jurisdictions

(Mears et al., 2009).

While deference theory is a plausible explanation for racial disparities in arrest,

there remains mixed support for this theory in the criminal justice literature. In

contrast to D. A. Smith and Visher (1981), several recent research studies find that

Black criminal suspects are not necessarily impacted negatively by police actions

(James et al., 2016; Klinger, 1996; Worrall et al., 2018). To illustrate, James et al.

(2016) employed a within-subject, repeated-measures study design to better determine

how police officers respond to realistic video scenarios where the use of deadly force

624

Race and Justice 12(4)