Dr Lisa Tompson1, Dr Simon Davies, Professor Devon Polaschek1
1Te Puna Haumaru NZ Institute for Security & Crime Science, Hamilton, New Zealand
Introduction: Public perceptions of police bias have never been more pervasive, and undermine feelings of trust in the police. But what does the evidence collectively say about this important yet contentious issue? To begin to answer this, a research team led by the NZ Institute for Security and Crime Science systematically assembled an ‘evidence and gap map’ of global research into disparities in police outcomes. This resource is available open-access to other researchers.
Methods: We followed systematic methods to identify studies that were eligible for the map. This involved: a key word search of the Global Policing Database; screening according to predefined inclusion criteria; inter-rater reliability tests; coding of studies to extract their data; and the creation of a visual map to illustrate the many different cross-sections of studies.
Results: 403 eligible studies were identified and coded for the evidence map. The evidence is dominated by research from the United States on racial bias, with gender and age also being commonly studied individual characteristics. A smaller, but growing, body of evidence looks at structural, institutional and ecological dimensions of bias. A wide variety of studies are represented on the map; for instance, more than two dozen police actions (e.g., deployment, arrests, stop and search, investigation) and over 20 theories frame the research on the map. We provide a brief summary of eight evidence syntheses that cover 253 primary studies, which can be considered the most rigorous summary at this present time.
Conclusion: police bias is a complex issue to research and many studies are extremely weak quality. The strongest evidence suggests there are disparities in police outcomes, but opinions differ (strongly!) as to why this is.
Biography:
Dr Lisa Tompson is a Senior Lecturer at the NZ Institute for Security and Crime Science. Prior to that she was an Associate Professor at UCL, after originally working as a Police crime analyst. Her primary professional interests are understanding the patterned nature of crime to inform crime prevention, and embedding evidence into police practice. Before she left the UK she was involved in a large programme of work to develop the infrastructure to support Evidence-Based Policing, culminating in a Chief Constable’s Commendation. Lisa is currently enjoying working with New Zealand Police to revitalise problem solving across the organisation.