Understanding the Effects of Anti-Profiling Policies

Paul Heaton

Abstract

Many police agencies have enacted measures designed to reduce racial profiling, yet little empirical evidence exists regarding the effects of such programs. In this paper I use the occurrence of a racial profiling scandal in New Jersey to quantify the effect of a move towards race-neutral policing. I estimate that the scandal and subsequent reforms led to a decrease in annual arrests of minorities of 20-40% for motor vehicle theft. I also present evidence that as enforcement against minorities fell, motor vehicle theft increased in areas populated by minorities. My implied elasticities do not suggest minorities respond differently to policing intensity than the general population. Additional data on accidents in New Jersey generates little strong evidence of additional adverse responses by minorities to lessened police scrutiny. The findings are robust to a number of specification checks, and similar patterns are observable in Maryland, a state which experienced a profiling scandal several years prior to New Jersey.