Study finds police officers of color make fewer stops and arrests and use less force than White officers

CNN — At a time of national reckoning and outcry over systemic racism, prominent proposals for addressing police brutality call for law enforcement agencies to more closely reflect the demographics of communities they serve. So diversity in policing yields tangible effects.” Amid recent calls for sweeping police reform prompted, in part, by last year’s death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, the researchers studied years of data gleaned from open records requests that showed race/ethnicity, language skills, daily shift assignments and other information from 7,000 Chicago police officers. We think our study offers valuable evidence that citizens and policymakers can use as they debate the way forward.” Chicago police cite ‘ongoing reform efforts’ In a statement, the Chicago Police Department said it is “committed to treating all individuals with dignity and respect.” “Ensuring that our officers reflect the diversity of Chicago’s communities is critical to public safety and constitutional policing,” the statement said. Additionally, as part of our ongoing reform efforts, all officers are also required to undergo implicit bias training as part of annual in-service training.” Chicago’s police department – the third largest in the nation – has changed in recent decades from a mostly White and nearly all male force. “Chicago is also heavily segregated, has a history of racial tensions between residents and police, and has come under recent scrutiny for controversial aggressive policing tactics such as ‘stop and frisk.’” “Stop and frisk is a type of aggressive policing that allows – some say encourages – officers to detain a person on virtually any type of vague suspicion, search that individual without a warrant, and arrest the person if any kind of illegal substance or weapon is found.