Depolicing in Chicago: Contrasting Patrol Officer and Specialized Unit Activity in the Aftermath of the Laquan McDonald Video Release

Abstract

The release of video showing a Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald resulted in widespread outrage and scrutiny of the CPD. This study examines whether the video’s release influenced arrest and traffic stop rates in Chicago. It adds to the existing depolicing literature through its focus on the CPD’s specialized units contrasted with officers assigned to patrol. The results indicate that arrest rates decreased significantly after the video was released, but only for officers assigned to specialized units. The video release had no significant impact on traffic stop rates. Additional analyses demonstrate that the significant reductions in arrest rates for specialized units were somewhat more pronounced in police districts with less than a majority of Black residents.

Keywords

depolicing Ferguson effect specialized units arrests traffic stops race

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. (2019). Chicago police traffic stops skyrocket, disproportionately impact minority drivers. https://www.aclu-il.org/en/press-releases/chicago-police-traffic-stops-skyrocket-disproportionately-impact-minority-drivers

Braga

A. A.

Barao

L. M.

Zimmerman

G. M.

Douglas

Sheppard

(2020). Measuring the direct and spillover effects of body worn cameras on the civility of police–citizen encounters and police work activities. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 36, 851–876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-019-09434-9

Brecher

(1997). Strike! (Vol. 1). South End Press.

Burbidge

J. B.

Magee

Robb

A. L.

(1988). Alternative transformations to handle extreme values of the dependent variable. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83(401), 123–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1988.10478575

Burke

P. J.

(2022). Examining drug enforcement by specialized police units in Chicago, 2009-2019. Journal of Criminal Justice, 81, Article 101905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101905

Byers

(2014). Crime up after Ferguson and more police needed, top St. Louis area chiefs say. STLtoday. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/crime-up-after-ferguson-and-more-police-needed-top-st-louis-area-chiefs-say/article_04d9f99f-9a9a-51be-a231-1707a57b50d6.html

Capellan

J. A.

Lautenschlager

Silva

J. R.

(2020). Deconstructing the Ferguson effect: A multilevel mediation analysis of public scrutiny, de-policing, and crime. Journal of Crime and Justice, 43(2), 125–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2019.1652921

Cassell

P. G.

(2020). Explaining the recent homicide spikes in U.S. cities: The “Minneapolis Effect” and the decline in proactive policing. Federal Sentencing Reporter, 33(1–2), 83–127.

Cassell

P. G.

Fowles

(2018). What caused the 2016 Chicago homicide spike? An empirical examination of the “ACLU Effect” and the role of stop and frisks in preventing gun violence (2018 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1581, University of Utah College of Law Research Paper No. 252). University of Utah College of Law. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3145287

10.

Chalfin

LaForest

Kaplan

(2021). Can precision policing reduce gun violence? Evidence from “gang takedowns” in New York City. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 40(4), 1047–1082. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22323

11.

Chanin

Sheats

(2018). Depolicing as dissent shirking: Examining the effects of pattern or practice misconduct reform on police behavior. Criminal Justice Review, 43(2), 105–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734016817704696

12.

Charles

(2022). Chicago police board fires officer linked to scandal-plagued special operations section. https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/chicago-police-board-fires-officer-linked-to-scandal-plagued-special-operations-section/

13.

Cheng

Long

(2018). The effect of highly publicized police-related deaths on policing and crime: Evidence from large US cities (Working Paper). https://www.hoplofobia.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2022-The-effect-of-highly-publicized-police-killings-on-policing-Evidence-from-71-large-US-cities.pdf

14.

Chicago Police Department. (2017). Annual report 2017. https://ChicagoPolice.org

15.

Crank

Langworthy

(1996). Fragmented centralization and the organization of the police. Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy, 6(3), 213–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.1996.9964752

16.

Davis

R. C.

Ortiz

C. W.

Henderson

N. J.

Miller

Massie

M. K.

(2002). Turning necessity into virtue: Pittsburgh’s experience with a federal consent decree. Vera Institute of Justice. https://www.vera.org/publications/turning-necessities-into-virtue-pittsburghs-experience-with-a-federal-consent-decree

17.

Deuchar

Fallik

S. W.

Crichlow

V. J.

(2019). Despondent officer narratives and the ‘post-Ferguson’ effect: Exploring law enforcement perspectives and strategies in a southern American state. Policing and Society, 29(9), 1042–1057. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2018.1480020

18.

Devi

Fryer

(2020). Policing the police: The impact of “pattern-or-practice” investigations on crime (Working Paper No. 27324). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w27324

19.

Donner

(1992). Protectors of privilege: Red squads and police repression in urban America. University of California Press.

20.

Gardner

A. M.

Scott

K. M.

(2022). Census of state and local law enforcement agencies, 2018—statistical tables. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice (NCJ 302187).

21.

Gau

J. M.

Paoline

E. A.

Paul

N. D.

(2022). De-policing as a result of public scrutiny: Examining officers’ perceptions of negative media attention and willingness to engage in self-initiated activity. Journal of Crime and Justice, 45(5), 539–551. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2021.2024082

22.

Gorner

(2019). While pedestrian stops by Chicago police plummeted, officers’ traffic stops soared, ACLU says. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-chicago-police-traffic-stops-20190111-story.html

23.

Gourevitch

(2015). Police work: The centrality of labor repression in American political history. Perspectives on Politics, 13(3), 762–773.

24.

Groff

E. R.

Ratcliffe

J. H.

Haberman

C. P.

Sorg

E. T.

Joyce

N. M.

Taylor

R. B.

(2015). Does what police do at hot spots matter? The Philadelphia policing tactics experiment*. Criminology, 53(1), 23–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12055

25.

Heusler

Sutter

(2020). Gaze control in law enforcement: Comparing a tactical police unit to patrol officers. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 37, 777–793. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-020-09412-z

26.

Hoffman

C. Y.

Hinkle

J. C.

Ledford

L. S.

(2021). Beyond the “Ferguson Effect” on crime: Examining its influence on law enforcement personnel (p. 36). CJC Publications. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cj_facpub/36

27.

International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2011). Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT). https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/s/SWATPaper.pdf

28.

Jenkins

Semple

Bennell

Huey

(2021). The role of context in understanding the use of tactical officers: A brief research note. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 23(4), 385–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/14613557211036721

29.

Klinger

D. A.

Rojek

(2008). Multi-method study of special weapons and tactics teams (Vol. 223855). National Institute of Justice.

30.

Kraska

P. B.

(2007). Militarization and policing: Its relevance to 21st century police. Policing, 1(4), 501–513. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pam065

31.

Kraska

P. B.

Kappeler

V. E.

(1997). Militarizing American police: The rise and normalization of paramilitary units. Social Problems, 44(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.2307/3096870

32.

Kraska

P. B.

Paulsenb

D. J.

(1997). Grounded research into US paramilitary policing: Forging the iron fist inside the velvet glove. Policing and Society: An International Journal, 7(4), 253–270.

33.

Lassiter

M. D.

(2021). Detroit under fire: Police violence, crime politics, and the struggle for racial justice in the civil rights era. University of Michigan Carceral State Project. https://policing.umhistorylabs.lsa.umich.edu/s/detroitunderfire/page/red-squad

34.

Lehman

C. F.

(2023). Is the Chicago consent decree working? Consent decrees for police reform: The Chicago experience. Manhattan Institute. https://manhattan.institute/article/is-the-chicago-consent-decree-working-consent-decrees-for-police-reform-the-chicago-experience

35.

Lemmer

T. J.

Bensinger

G. J.

Lurigio

A. J.

(2008). An analysis of police responses to gangs in Chicago. Police Practice and Research, 9(5), 417–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614260801980836

36.

Marier

C. J.

Fridell

L. A.

(2020). Demonstrations, demoralization, and de-policing. Criminology & Public Policy, 19(3), 693–719. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12492

37.

Meyer

A. D.

(1982). Adapting to environmental jolts. Administrative Science Quarterly, 27(4), 515–537. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392528

38.

Mitrani

(2013). The rise of the Chicago police department: Class and conflict, 1850-1894. University of Illinois Press.

39.

Morgan

S. L.

Pally

J. A.

(2016). Ferguson, Gray, and Davis: An analysis of recorded crime incidents and arrests in Baltimore City, March 2010 through December 2015. SocArXiv. https://socweb.soc.jhu.edu/faculty/morgan/papers/morganpally2016.pdf

40.

Muchow

A. N.

McCarty

W. P.

Burke

Moreno

Jr. (2023). Depolicing in Chicago: Assessing the quantity and quality of policing after the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald. Justice Quarterly, 40(7), 975–998. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2023.2232007

41.

National Policing Institute. (2024). Considerations for specialized units: A guide for state and local law enforcement agencies to ensure appropriateness, effectiveness, and accountability. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

42.

Nix

Pickett

J. T.

(2017). Third-person perceptions, hostile media effects, and policing: Developing a theoretical framework for assessing the Ferguson effect. Journal of Criminal Justice, 51, 24–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.05.016

43.

Nix

Wolfe

S. E.

(2016). Sensitivity to the Ferguson effect: The role of managerial organizational justice. Journal of Criminal Justice, 47, 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.06.002

44.

Nix

Wolfe

S. E.

Campbell

B. A.

(2017). Command-level police officers’ perceptions of the “war on cops” and de-policing. Justice Quarterly, 35(1), 33–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2017.1338743

45.

Novak

K. J.

Smith

B. W.

Frank

(2003). Strange bedfellows: Civil liability and aggressive policing. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 26(2), 352–368. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510310475813

46.

Pfuhl

E. H.

(1983). Police strikes and conventional crime. A look at the data. Criminology, 21(4), 489–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1983.tb00276.x

47.

Prendergast

(2001). Selection and oversight in the public sector, with the Los Angeles Police Department as an example. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w8664

48.

Rantatalo

(2016). Media representations and police officers’ identity work in a specialised police tactical unit. Policing and Society, 26(1), 97–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2014.942844

49.

Roman

Fredriksson

Cassella

Epp

Walker

(2023). The George Floyd effect: How protests and public scrutiny change police behavior in Seattle. https://www.marcelroman.com/pdfs/wps/depol.pdf

50.

Rosenbaum

D. P.

Stephens

(2005). Reducing public violence and homicide in Chicago: Strategies and tactics of the Chicago Police Department. Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.

51.

Roziere

Walby

(2018). The expansion and normalization of police militarization in Canada. Critical Criminology, 26, 29–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-017-9378-3

52.

Shi

(2009). The limit of oversight in policing: Evidence from the 2001 Cincinnati riot. Journal of Public Economics, 93(1–2), 99–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2008.07.007

53.

Shjarback

J. A.

Pyrooz

D. C.

Wolfe

S. E.

Decker

S. H.

(2017). De-policing and crime in the wake of Ferguson: Racialized changes in the quantity and quality of policing among Missouri police departments. Journal of Criminal Justice, 50, 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.04.003

54.

Slocum

L. A.

Greene

Huebner

B. M.

Rosenfeld

(2019). Changes in enforcement of low-level and felony offenses post-Ferguson: An analysis of arrests in St. Louis, Missouri. Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society, 20(2), 25–45. https://scholasticahq.com/criminology-criminal-justice-law-society/

55.

Stone

Foglesong

Cole

C. M.

(2009). Policing Los Angeles under a consent decree: The dynamics of change at the LAPD. Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at the Harvard Kennedy School. https://lapdonlinestrgeacc.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/lapdonlinemedia/2021/12/Harvard-LAPD-Study.pdf

56.

Sweeney

Gorner

(2022). Chicago police leadership places many tactical officers back in patrol cars amid struggle to contain violence. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2022/01/10/chicago-police-leadership-places-many-tactical-officers-back-in-patrol-cars-amid-struggle-to-contain-violence/

57.

Torres

Reling

(2020). Under-policing and apprehensiveness toward stopping minorities across white and nonwhite officers post-Ferguson. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 18(4), 282–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377938.2020.1754992

58.

Torres

Reling

Hawdon

(2018). Role conflict and the psychological impacts of the post-Ferguson period on law enforcement motivation, cynicism, and apprehensiveness. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 33(4), 358–374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9284-y

59.

Valasik

Reid

S. E.

Phillips

M. D.

(2016). CRASH and burn: Abatement of a specialized gang unit. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, 2(2), 95–106. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-06-2015-0024

60.

Van Maanen

(1973). Working the street; a developmental view of police behavior (Working papers 681-73). Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. https://ideas.repec.org/p/mit/sloanp/1873.html

61.

Vaughn

P. E.

Peyton

Huber

G. A.

(2022). Mass support for proposals to reshape policing depends on the implications for crime and safety. Criminology & Public Policy, 21(1), 125–146. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12572

62.

VerBruggen

(2021). De-Policing and what to do about it. Manhattan Institute. https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/MI-VerBruggen-depolicing.pdf3

63.

Winston

BondGraham

(2023). The riders come out at night: Brutality, corruption, and cover up in Oakland. Atria Books.

64.

Yousif

(2024). Three ex-Memphis officers guilty of witness tampering in fatal beating. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4glkedx1mxo

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.04 MB

0.00 MB