The gap between citizen perceptions and the realities of police work is most pronounced among detective work: Little, for example, is known about how detectives use their investigative discretion. To overcome this issue within the context of race/ethnicity, detectives reported the amount of time they worked assigned cases. These data were paired with case file information containing the complainant and suspect’s racial and ethnic identity. Dyads of complainant and suspect racial/ethnic arrangements were explored to see whether there was a difference in the likelihood that a case would be worked and for how long it was worked. The results were mixed: There was no difference in the likelihood that a case would be worked or how long it was worked across differing complainant racial/ethnic identities. Cases with a minority suspect, however, were more likely to be worked and for longer periods of time. The implications for these findings are discussed.
AlpertG.DunhamR.SmithM. (2007). Investigating racial profiling by the Miami-Dade police department: A multimethod approach. Criminology & Public Policy, 6, 25–56.
2.
AntonovicsK.KnightB. (2009). A new look at racial profiling: Evidence from the Boston police department. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 91, 163–177.
BradfordB. (2014). Policing and social identity: Procedural justice, inclusion and cooperation between police and public. Policing and Society, 24, 22–43.
5.
BrandlS.FrankJ. (1994). The relationship between evidence, detective effort, and the disposition of burglary and robbery investigations. American Journal of Police, 13, 149–167.
6.
BynumT.CordnerG.GreenJ. (1982). Victim and offender characteristics: Impact on police investigative decision-making. Criminology, 20, 301–318.
7.
DeLisiM.RegoliR. (2005). Race, conventional crime, and criminal justice. Race, Crime, and Justice: A Reader, 87.
8.
DeucharR.FallikS.CrichlowV. (2018). Despondent officer narratives and the “post-Ferguson” effect: Exploring law enforcement perspectives and strategies in a southern American state. Policing and Society. doi:10.1080/10439463.2018.1480020
9.
EckJ. (1983). Solving crimes: The investigation of burglary and robbery. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum.
10.
EngelR.SobolJ.WordenR. (2000). Further exploration of the demeanor hypothesis: The interaction effects of suspects’ characteristics and demeanor on police behavior. Justice Quarterly, 17, 235–258.
11.
EngelR.CalnonJ. (2004). Examining the influence of drivers’ characteristics during traffic stops with police: Results from a national survey. Justice Quarterly, 21, 49–90.
12.
FallikS. (2016). Detective effort: What contributes to arrests during retrospective criminal investigations?Policing & Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy. doi:10.1080/10439463.2016.1275625
13.
FallikS. (2017). How long does it take? An exploration of the time between case assignment and a detective’s first investigative activity. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal. doi:10.1080/15614263.2017.1419132
14.
FallikS. (2018). The methodological struggles of racial profiling research: A causal question that automobile stop data has yet to answer. Criminal Justice Studies. doi:10.1080/1478601X.2018.1559057
15.
FallikS.NovakK. (2012). The decision to search: Is race or ethnicity important?Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 28, 146–165.
16.
FallikS.VictoryD. (2018). The temporal order of retrospective burglary and robbery criminal investigations: An exploratory “black box” analysis. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice, and Principles. doi:10.1177/0032258X17751862
17.
GreenwoodP.ChaikenJ.PetersiliaJ. (1977). The investigation process. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
18.
HorvathF.MeesigR.LeeY. (2001). National survey of police policies and practices regarding the criminal investigation process: Twenty-five years after Rand. Washington, DC: The National Institute of Justice.
KochelT.WilsonD.MastrofskiS. (2011). Effect of suspect race on officers’ arrest decisions. Criminology, 49, 473–512.
21.
LamberthJ. (1994). Revised statistical analysis of the incidence of police stops and arrests of black drivers/travelers on the New Jersey Turnpike between exists or interchanges 1 and 3 from years 1988 through 1991. Retrieved fromhttp://www.lamberthconsulting.com/downloads/new_jersey_study_report.pdf
22.
LangtonL.DuroseM. (2013). Police behavior during traffic and street stops, 2011. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
23.
La VigneN.FontaineJ.DwivediA. (2017). How do people in high-crime, low-income communities view the police?New York, NY: Urban Institute.
24.
LawtonB. (2007). Levels of nonlethal force: An examination of individual, situational and contextual factors. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 44, 163–184.
25.
LiederbachJ.FritschE.WomackC. (2011). Detective workload and opportunities for increased productivity in criminal investigations. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 12, 50–65.
26.
LundmanR. (2004). Driver race, ethnicity, and gender and citizen reports of vehicle searches by police and vehicle search hits: Toward a triangulated scholarly understanding. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 94, 309–350.
McCluskeyJ.TerrillW. (2005). Departmental and citizen complaints as predictors of police coercion. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 28, 513–529.
29.
MyhillA.BradfordB. (2012). Can police enhance confidence in improving quality of service?Policing and Society, 22, 397–425.
30.
NewportF. (2016). Public opinion context: Americans, race and police. Washington, DC: Gallup Organization.
31.
NovakK. (2004). Disparity and racial profiling in traffic enforcement. Police Quarterly, 7, 65–96.
32.
PeffleyM.HurwitzJ. (2010). Justice in America: The separate realities of Blacks and Whites. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
33.
PhillipsT.SmithP. (2000). Police violence occasioning citizen complaint: An empirical analysis of time-space dynamics. British Journal of Criminology, 40, 480–496.
34.
PickerillM.MosherC.PrattT. (2009). Search and seizure, racial profiling, and traffic stops: A disparate impact framework. Law and Policy, 31, 1–30.
35.
PuckettJ.LundmanR. (2003). Factors affecting homicide clearances: Multivariate analysis of a more complete conceptual framework. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40, 171–193.
36.
RegoecziW.KennedyL.SilvermanR. (2000). Uncleared homicide: A Canada/United States comparison. Homicide Studies, 4, 135–161.
37.
ReinerR. (2008). “Policing and the media.” In NewburnT. (ed.), Handbook of policing (pp. 313–335). New York, NY: Willan Publishing.
38.
RosenbaumD.SchuckA.CostelloS.HawkinsD.RingM. (2005). Attitudes toward the police: The effects of direct and vicarious experience. Police Quarterly, 8, 343–365.
39.
RosenfeldR.FornangoR. (2014). The impact of police stops on precinct robbery and burglary rates in New York City, 2003–2010. Justice Quarterly, 31, 96–122.
40.
SampsonR.LauritsenJ. (1997). Racial and ethnic disparities in crime and criminal justice in the United States. Crime and Justice, 21, 311–374.
41.
SchweiterN.SaksM. (2007). The CSI effect: Popular fiction about forensic science affects the public’s expectations about real forensic science. Jurimetrics, 47, 357–364.
42.
SkoganW.Van CraenM.HennessyC. (2015). Training police for procedural justice. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 11, 319–334.
43.
SunI.PayneB. (2004). Racial differences in resolving conflicts: A comparison between Black and White police officers. Crime and Delinquency, 50, 516–541.
44.
TillyerR.KlahmC.EngelR. (2011). The discretion to search: A multilevel examination of driver demographics and officer characteristics. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 28, 184–205.
45.
TylerT.FaganJ. (2008). Legitimacy and cooperation: Why do people help the police fight crime in their communities?Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 6, 231–275.
46.
WaegelW. (1981). Case routinization in investigative police work. Social Problems, 28, 263–275.
47.
WaegelW. (1982). Patterns of police investigation of urban crimes. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 10, 452–465.
48.
WardR. (1971). The investigative function: Criminal investigation in the United States (Doctoral dissertation). University of California, Berkeley.
49.
WarrenP.Tomaskovic-DeveyD.SmithW.ZingraffM.MasonM. (2006). Driving while Black: Bias processes and racial disparity in police stops. Criminology, 44, 709–738.
50.
WeisburdD.WooditchA.WeisburdS.YangS. (2016). Do stop, question, and frisk practices deter crime? Evidence at microunits of space and time. Criminology & Public Policy, 15, 31–56.
51.
WeiselD. (2012). Racial and ethnic disparity in traffic stops in North Carolina, 2000–2011: Examining the evidence. Durham: North Carolina Central University.
52.
WellfordC.CroninJ.BrandlS.BynumT.EversenT.GaleriaS. (1999). An analysis of variables affecting the clearance of homicides: A multistate study. Washington, DC: Justice Research and Statistics Association.
53.
WithrowB. (2006). Racial profiling: From rhetoric to reason. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
