The Relationship of Hispanic Threat with Police-Caused Homicide: What Roles do Nativity and Region Play?

Abstract

Minority threat theory hypothesizes that police exert greater coercive control over racial/ethnic groups perceived as dangerous in cities with relatively large and residentially segregated minority populations. One line of research testing this hypothesis examines the relationships of percent minority and minority segregation with the incidence of police-caused homicide. The limited research on Hispanics provides little supporting evidence for minority threat theory. However, past studies do not consider the possible influences of Southwest region and the relative size of foreign- and native-born Hispanic populations on police-caused homicide. In the present study, we incorporate these variables into a cross-sectional analysis of Mapping Police Violence police-caused homicide data in cities of 100,000 or more population in 2010. There were positive main effects of Southwest region in each analysis. There were also interactions involving Southwest region and nativity. Percent native born had a positive relationship with the total incidence of police-caused homicide in the Southwest but no relationship outside that region. Percent foreign born had a negative relationship with police-caused homicide of Hispanics in the Southwest and no relationship outside that region. Hispanic-White segregation had a strong positive relationship with both outcome variables that did not vary by region. Taken together, the findings indicate that Hispanic nativity, region, and residential segregation shape patterns of police-caused homicide in ways not captured in past research. They also reveal the need for more nuanced conceptualizations and empirical tests of minority threat theory.