Do Members of Racial Minority Groups Have an Affinity With Serious Crimes? An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

The overrepresentation of Blacks and Latinos in the arrest statistics is no longer a new finding but whether this trend is due to selective law enforcement or differential involvement in crime needs a more forceful and empirically grounded attention than has so far been proffered. Using data from a large midwestern police department, the total count of 11,293 arrests conducted from January through December 2005 were examined. A higher arrest rate was affirmed for Blacks and Latinos. In addition, the data provided considerable support for existence of zeal in discretional arrest for Blacks and Latinos but only a remote possibility of differential involvement in criminal behavior for the 2 racial minority groups.

KEYTERMS:

• race
• racial minorities
• Latinos
• Blacks
• arrests
• law enforcement

This study was funded wholly by a grant from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) for which I am truly grateful. I thank the Fort Wayne Police Department for allowing me access to the department's arrest records.

Notes

^aTotal population figures are based on U.S. Population Census of 2000.

^aArrests per 10,000 population are shown in parentheses.

^aDisposition percentages are shown in parentheses for individual categories.