The Social Psychology of Racially Biased Policing: Evidence-Based Policy Responses

Police killings of unarmed African Americans, such as George Floyd in 2020, continue to cause nationwide protests and calls for change. Psychological science knows much about biased policing and can inform policy to promote equitable policing. Social psychology’s extensive findings on stereotyping, attitudes, and intergroup relations help clarify the role of officer racial bias. This article reviews implicit and explicit bias, race-crime stereotypes, intragroup bias, ingroup favoritism, stereotype threat, and dehumanization in policing interactions, all of which can lead to racially disparate use of force. Based on this science, some policy responses can mitigate bias: Officer level de-biasing training, body-worn cameras, automatic license plate readers, and federal policing reform legislation are discussed. The lack of a coordinated, national effort to collect and analyze police use of force data undermines tracking fatal incidents and bias therein, which are therefore harder to remediate.

The rapid diffusion of license plate readers in US law enforcement agencies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to document the diffusion of license plate readers (LPRs) in the USA, examining the variety, evolution and tracking of their uses through a national survey. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a national, stratified, representative survey of US law enforcement agencies with 100 or more officers. Findings LPR technology is currently used by at least two-thirds of larger police agencies, which represents a more than threefold increase in LPR acquisition in the last 10 years. The number of LPRs per agency, while small (about eight on average), has also more than doubled. Federal and state funding, advocacy by law enforcement leaders, and the intuitive appeal of LPRs have likely contributed to this rapid adoption. While LPRs are still primarily used to detect and recover stolen automobiles in patrol, their use has expanded into other types of investigative and security functions. Despite the increased use and numbers of LPRs in policing, their use is highly discretionary and infrequently tracked. Practical implications LPRs continue to be widely used in law enforcement, despite a lack of strong research evidence for their crime prevention benefits. Further studies are needed on the most effective ways for agencies to utilize small numbers of LPRs and the potential return on investment for acquiring larger numbers of the devices. Originality/value This study tracks the history of LPR diffusion and use and goes beyond prior law enforcement surveys by examining specific uses of LPRs and the extent to which agencies track their uses and outcomes.

Estimating the Effects of Police Technology Using Quasi-Experimental Methods

Law enforcement agencies are adopting a variety of new surveillance technologies at a fast pace. These technologies could have substantial benefits in terms of public safety, but, for many of them, their ability to reduce crime is unknown. Although a small experimental literature addresses some of these technologies, many of the implementations have been too small to provide an accurate measurement of their potential. In this paper, I explore the advantages and make general suggestions about the use of quasi-experimental methodologies in estimating the public safety benefits of police technology. I also consider the specific case of license plate readers and provide some examples of difference-in-differences approaches that could be used to study their efficacy.