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INVESTIGATING RACIAL PROFILING BY THE MIAMI‐DADE POLICE DEPARTMENT: A MULTIMETHOD APPROACH
Author(s) -
ALPERT GEOFFREY P.,
DUNHAM ROGER G.,
SMITH MICHAEL R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
criminology and public policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.6
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1745-9133
pISSN - 1538-6473
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9133.2007.00420.x
Subject(s) - racial profiling , officer , law enforcement , miami , profiling (computer programming) , police department , reasonable suspicion , interrogation , criminology , political science , race (biology) , perception , psychology , law , public relations , sociology , supreme court , computer science , gender studies , environmental science , neuroscience , soil science , operating system
Research Summary The perception and existence of biased policing or racial profiling is one of the most difficult issues facing contemporary American society. Citizens from minority communities have focused their concerns on the improper use of race by law enforcement officers. The current research uses a complex methodological approach to investigate claims that the Miami‐Dade, Florida Police Department uses race improperly for the purposes of making traffic stops and conducting post‐stop activities. The results are mixed in that the officer's aggregate actions do not show a pattern of discriminatory actions toward minority citizens when making a traffic stop, but results of post‐stop activities do show some disparate treatment of minorities. Policy Implications Five specific policy recommendations are made to reduce the perception or reality of racial profiling by the police. First, police departments must have clear policies and directives explaining the proper use of race in decision making. Second, officers must be trained and educated in the overall impact of using race as a factor in deciding how to respond to a citizen. Third, the department must maintain a data‐collection and analytic system to monitor the activities of their officers as it pertains to the race of the citizen. The fourth police recommendation involves the use of record checks in the field that can set in motion a process that results in the detention and arrest of citizens. Fifth, the completion of a record of interrogation for later intelligence has implications for the citizen. The use of this intelligence tool must depend on suspicion rather than on the race of the citizen.