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From tough-on-crime to smart-on-crime: the racial impact of policing felony drug offenses in the 21st century
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Campbell, Walter Lee. From tough-on-crime to smart-on-crime: the racial impact of policing felony drug offenses in the 21st century. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-173g-v970

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TitleFrom tough-on-crime to smart-on-crime: the racial impact of policing felony drug offenses in the 21st century
NameCampbell, Walter Lee (author); Griffiths, Elizabeth (chair); Christian, Johnna (internal member); Miller, Joel (internal member); Hinkle, Joshua (outside member); Rutgers University; Graduate School - Newark
Date Created2019
Other Date2019-05 (degree)
SubjectPolicing, Criminal Justice, Discrimination in law enforcement -- Georgia -- Atlanta, Drug abuse and crime -- Georgia -- Atlanta
Extent1 online resource (xi, 298 pages) : illustrations
DescriptionFrom the 1970s through the early 2000s, the policing of drug crime in America was marked by a “tough on crime” approach. This ethos influenced the ways in which police managed public safety, resulting in the adoption of police paramilitary units (PPUs) and the overuse and misuse of order-maintenance stops and warrants for drug offenses. Yet these units and practices are known to be associated with racialized patterns of policing. Over the past decade, a number of police agencies have transitioned towards a “smart on crime” ethos that rejects the “tough” approach in favor of evidence-based strategies often touted as race-neutral. This ideological shift in policing was especially pronounced in Atlanta, where a PPU was disbanded and replaced with data-driven units after several high-profile incidents of police abuse came to light. One of the consequences of the move to “smart” drug policing, then, should be a conspicuous decline in racial disparities. In this dissertation, I examine whether and how the move from “tough” to “smart” policing styles influences the role of race in the enforcement of felony drug crimes. Using data from the Context of Drug Enforcement project, I explore racialized patterns of policing in both the “tough” (2005) and “smart” (2012) eras; use multilevel models to understand the relationship between specialized units (PPUs and data-driven units) and certain tactics (warrants and order maintenance stops) with race in each era; and estimate fixed effects models to assess how the change in ethos, in specialized units, and in tactics affected racial disparities in drug policing across eras. The findings reveal a complicated story, with Atlanta Police Department’s shift in ethos contributing to changes in some but not all aspects of racialized drug arrest patterns and, even then, only marginally. This is partially a consequence of the minor and nuanced role played by these units and tactics in generating racial disparities in arrests in the first place. While the shift to a “smart on crime” ethos can generate a substantial redirection away from the policing of drug crime more broadly, it may do little to alleviate significant racial disparities in drug arrests.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses, ETD doctoral
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-173g-v970
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School - Newark Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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