Police Brutality and Crime Clearance Across the Midwest
Mentor 1
Aki Roberts
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
5-4-2019 1:30 PM
End Date
5-4-2019 3:30 PM
Description
In the United States, less than half of violent crimes are solved; only 45.6% of violent crimes in the U.S. were cleared in 2017 according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. As rates of crime clearance drop in the United States, it is necessary to locate the reasoning behind this. This study examined the relationship between incidents of police brutality and crime clearance. It was hypothesized that the greater number of police brutality incidents there were, the less trust there would be between law enforcement and the community and that would be reflected through a lower crime clearance rate. 62,331 murders, kidnappings, robberies and sexual assaults across 11 Midwestern states were reviewed through a logistic regression analysis. It was found that the less trust the community held in law enforcement, demonstrated by a higher number of police brutality incidents, the less likely law enforcement was able to solve kidnappings, sexual assaults, and robberies. However, there was not a significant relationship between trust reflected through police brutality incidents and clearance of murders. Additionally, victim and incident characteristics influenced crime clearance with incidents involving a contact weapon, a concomitant offense, and a non-black victim increasing the probability of clearance. Overall, this analysis demonstrated the importance of the community in the crime solving process: with less trust comes less cooperation. There is a need for realistic and applicable reforms that could include training to prevent acts of police brutality, healing efforts after an incident of police brutality has been committed, and more effective communication between communities and law enforcement.
Police Brutality and Crime Clearance Across the Midwest
Union Wisconsin Room
In the United States, less than half of violent crimes are solved; only 45.6% of violent crimes in the U.S. were cleared in 2017 according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. As rates of crime clearance drop in the United States, it is necessary to locate the reasoning behind this. This study examined the relationship between incidents of police brutality and crime clearance. It was hypothesized that the greater number of police brutality incidents there were, the less trust there would be between law enforcement and the community and that would be reflected through a lower crime clearance rate. 62,331 murders, kidnappings, robberies and sexual assaults across 11 Midwestern states were reviewed through a logistic regression analysis. It was found that the less trust the community held in law enforcement, demonstrated by a higher number of police brutality incidents, the less likely law enforcement was able to solve kidnappings, sexual assaults, and robberies. However, there was not a significant relationship between trust reflected through police brutality incidents and clearance of murders. Additionally, victim and incident characteristics influenced crime clearance with incidents involving a contact weapon, a concomitant offense, and a non-black victim increasing the probability of clearance. Overall, this analysis demonstrated the importance of the community in the crime solving process: with less trust comes less cooperation. There is a need for realistic and applicable reforms that could include training to prevent acts of police brutality, healing efforts after an incident of police brutality has been committed, and more effective communication between communities and law enforcement.
