The Role of Police Officer Race/Ethnicity on Crime Rates in Immigrant Communities

Abstract

Few studies have examined the role of city police officer racial/ethnic representation on violent crime in immigrant neighborhoods. Yet police officer race/ethnicity might play a significant role in bolstering or weakening the relationship between immigration and violent crime rates. Researchers have posited that increasing the representation of minority officer would be an important avenue for making police departments more accountable to the communities they serve. The current study contributes to existing research by using national (i.e., 89 cities and 8,980 neighborhoods) data on violent crime from large U.S. cities. We examine the relationship between immigration, violent crime rates, and minority police officer representation using multilevel modeling techniques. Results indicate that neighborhood immigrant concentration is associated with lower robbery and homicide rates. Moreover, the negative relationship between immigrant concentration and violent crime rates is strengthened by city African American and Hispanic officer representation. Policy implications for law enforcement are discussed.

Perception of Immigrants in Europe: A Multilevel Assessment of Macrolevel Conditions

“…The belief that immigrants increase crime is an old, but dubious sentiment, as many native-born citizens worry that immigrants' entry into the country will not only undermine the dominant culture, but also cause crime to increase (Pryce, 2018). This "issue" has been examined extensively by American scholars, with most of the findings showing that immigrants (or immigration) do not increase crime (Chenane and Wright, 2018;Lyons, Vélez, and Santoro, 2013;Ousey and Kubrin, 2018;Ramey, 2013). The extent of this perceived link between fear of crime and immigration may, in truth, be nothing more than the fear of foreigners (Ceobanu, 2011).…”

Trust and Confidence in Police Officers and the Institution of Policing: The Views of African Americans in the American South

“…Researchers have emphasized the importance of police–public collaboration in the co-production of security in communities, as it is much more difficult for the police to effectively combat crime and community problems without help from the public (Carr et al, 2007; Chenane & Wright, 2021; Hamm et al, 2017; Sampson & Bartusch, 1998). Studies in the United States (Macdonald & Stokes, 2006; Pryce, 2018b; Tyler, 2005), Europe (Bradford, 2017; Hough, 2012; Jackson & Bradford, 2010; van Craen, 2013; van Craen & Skogan, 2015), Asia (Sun et al, 2012, 2014), Australia (Goldsmith, 2005; Sargeant et al, 2014), and developing countries such as Ghana (Tankebe, 2008) have documented the essential role of trust in motivating cooperation with the police.…”

“…Understanding how the public views (e.g., their views of trust and confidence) and feels about the police is essential for a variety of reasons. For example, research has shown that voluntary cooperation in efforts to combat crime and disorder stems from the trust and confidence that the public has in the police (Chenane & Wright, 2021; Sampson & Bartusch, 1998; Tyler, 2005).…”

Visibly better? Testing the effect of ethnic appearance on citizen perceptions of the police

“…He found a 10 per cent increase in the share of ethnic minority officers was associated with between a 1.4 and 3.8 per cent decrease in Home Office recorded crime. A recent study by Chenane and Wright (2018) examined the role of ethnic minority officer representation on violent crime in immigrant neighbourhoods in the US. Drawing on data from 89 cities and 8,980 neighbourhoods and employing multilevel modelling, they found that immigrant concentration was associated with lower robbery and homicide rates, and that this negative relationship was strengthened by city level African American and Hispanic officer representation.…”