policing the racial divde

Officers in black neighborhood face

Aggressive stops and slow response times

Police practices reinforce racial inequalities through

Routine activities rater than individuals bias

Postindustrial cities experienced

• decline

• Deindustrialization

• Economic shifts

Growth strategies favor

White, affluent areas marginalizing black neighborhoods are reinforcing segregation

City development focuses on downtown and white neighborhoods,

neglecting or containing black areas

Racialized narratives link black neighborhoods to

disorders shaping investment, and policing patters

Police are used as agents of

Social control and urban development, targeting marginalized communities

Strategies like hotspots policing and dines extract revenue from

Black and low income neighborhoods

Policing varies by neighborhood with

higher surveillance in black areas and community engagement in white neighborhoods

Police practices are shaped by city growth politics

Reinforcing racial and class inequalities

Police actively participate in shaping city spaces aligned with

economic and political interest

Their activities reinforce existing

Racial and class hierarchies through targeted enforcement and resource allocation

Police practices actively shape and maintain

Racial and spatial boundaries in cities

Categories like race and criminality are

Social constructs that vary over time and place

Police participate in create

Racial hierarchies through classification and surveillance

Police redistricting reveals

Assumptions about boundaries and resource allocation

Reforms reflect

broader urban governance strategies and influence police-community interactions

Police decisions link

Macro structural factors to micro interactions

Routine practices communicate messages about neighborhood

Safety and reinforce inequalities

River city exemplifies

• segregation shaped by industrial decline

• Housing discrimination and

• Economic inequality

Police responses to growth politics further entrench

Racial and spatial divides

East districts focuses on

• growth

• Community service and

• Attracting middle class residents

West districts faces

• Layered policing

• Over policing and

• Under protection

Which heighten racial tension

Police target who and what does it reinforce?

black bodies and Racialized spaces reinforcing spatial and racial exclusion

Revitalization benefits white and affluent areas while marginalizing

black communities

Officers view white residents as

Potential informants, reinforcing segregation

Gentrification and neighborhood advocacy can

Shift racial boundaries and resource distribution

Officer in the east district handle

Fewer, more through investigations due to resident’ higher expectations

The west district responds quickly to many assignments but often “files and forgets” because

Higher crime rates and workload

Redistricting combines residential and downtown areas to

Focus on quality of life issues and urban development

This were crime incidents and called for service in the east district which enabled more

Proactive, community oriented policing

Police in the east district emphasize

• service

• Order maintenance and

• Community problem solving over aggressive crime fighting

Officers build relationships through

• responsiveness

• Preventative patrols

• Collaboration with local stakeholders

Officers often believe wealthier residents and stakeholders deserve better

Police service due to their economic contributions

Encounters with powerful or entitles citizens reflect a

Perception that social standing influences police treatment

Police practices target

Race and class markets, maintaining segregation and defining the east district as a white space

The community policing approach is

Uneven, with racialized ideas influencing who is considered a threat of “out of place”

East district officers focus on

• service provisions,

• order maintenance,

• and handling less serious calls

Downtime allows officers to

• engage in preventive patrols Collaboration

• Traffic stops

• Community engagement

Thus reinforcing visible policing

Officers like Petty foster community trust through

Liaison work and responding to residents concerns

Residents often expect police to

• address issues proactively

• Sometimes proposing to pay for private policing services

Wealthier predominantly white neighborhoods receive more

Visible and responsive police presence

Racialized language and practices reflect

Ongoing segregation and differential treatment based on social status

Police focus on

Service provisions and order maintenance in middle class neighborhoods

Residents felt increasingly responsive police presence with incentives like

• The call log

• Neighborhood input shaping policing

Redistricting prioritized

• low crime

• Middle class areas while marginalizing

• Improving response times

• Resource allocation

Residents and stakeholders reported

Better policing responsiveness and a shift toward community based, problem solving approaches

The entertainment corridor deployment (ECD) aimed to

Attract tourism and business by ensuring nightlife safety

Police increase visible

• foot patrols

• Foster collaboration with bar owners

• focused on order maintenance rather than punitive measures

Officers engages in

• crown regulation

• Dispute management

• Building relationships with nightlife venues

The deployment aimed to

Prevent incidents that could harm the city’s economic growth, emphasizing deterrence and collaboration

Stakeholders credited the ECD with

Reducing crime by 40-50% and improving perceptions of safety

Police efforts supported downtown revitalization

Attracting investments and increasing tourism especially among white professionals

The community service mainly benefited

White middle class neighbors

Resources and responses were uneven, with

West district neighborhoods experiencing less responsive policing and more surveillance

Policing strategies aligned with

• city growth politics

• Emphasizing economic development and attracting middle class residents

Police viewed their role as integral to

Urban revitalization, reinforcing racial and class divides through resource distribution and policing practices

Officers in the west district which perceive

Increases in stress, over work, and declining camaraderie

Redistricting changes the districts dynamic

Weakening designed breaks and scenic respite areas

Officers often viewed residents through

A colorblind lens, framing issues as individual failures rather than structural inequalities

Negative stereotypes about black neighborhoods and residents persisted,

Reinforces by policing tactics and district reputations

The west district employed diverse approaches

• community policing

• Proactive crime control

• Traditional patrols

Resources were unevenly distributed, favoring

Proactive units over community based teams, leading to over policing and under protection

Community policing officers built trust through

• neighborhood engagement

• Problem solving

• Local meeting

Deep seated mistrust, resource limits, and structural issues hinder

Broader community relations and effective problem resolution

The west district experiences

Significantly higher crime rates, especially homicides, assaults, and robberies

Crime data, influenced by reporting and enforcement,

Perpetuates the districts reputation as high crime, fueling over policing

Police used proactive stops in

Hotspots to disrupt crime, framed as community responsive

These stops often targeted black residents

Disproportionally, reinforcing perceptions of bias and exacerbating mistrust

Police leadership, including chief Lancaster, promoted

Proactive strategies as part of community well being

Messaging emphasized protecting

Neighborhoods from violence to foster safety, sometimes ignoring residents’ negative experiences

Officers were trained to build familiarity with n

Neighborhoods to distinguish between groups and individuals

The approach emphasized targeted stops based on

• known offenders

• Crime hot spots

• Community support for policing efforts

Stops increased from ______; investigatory stops from ______

• 50,000 to 190,000

• 14,00 to over 60,000

Data linked increased stops to a ___ drop in violent crime and a ___ reduction in property crime, including a ___ decrease in stolen cars

• 24%

• 20%

• 40%

High crime neighborhoods in west districts saw

Concentrated proactive policing involving bike patrols and anti violence units

The west district has the highest ____ ____, especially investigatory stops, driven by crime control priorities

Stop rates

Officers used behavioral cues to identify

Suspicious persons and vehicles, conducting searches that often found no contraband

Interactions were professional with officers

Apologizing and engaging in casual conversation, though stops were racially skewed

The strategy failed to produce long term reductions in violence

Crime rates increased after initial declines

Stops disproportionately target black residents contributing to

Racial disparities in arrests, searches, and community perceptions

Black and Latin drivers were much more likely to be

Stopped and searches; contraband discovery rates were similar across races

Racial profiling claims led to

• Lawsuits

• Increased community distrust

• Critiques of over policing black neighborhoods

Police response times were slower in

West district; residents felt their neighborhoods were devalued and underprotected

Resources reallocation toward proactive units

Reduced officers available for calls, affecting everyday service for nonviolent issues

Officers experimented relentless workloads, often

Delaying responses or handling minor calls superficially

Many officers

• ate on the go

• “Laying in the weeds”

• Prioritized violent crime responses over property issues of disturbances

Response t o violent crimes was swift and

Resource-intensive, often monopolizing patrol capacity

Routine calls, especially nonviolent or “baseless” faces slow responses or

Were classified as low priority, undermining community trust

Neighborhood neglect, poverty, and segregation shaped

Policing strategies focused on control rather than social investment

Police participating in maintaining racial and economic segregation, reinforcing

Inequalities though spatial regulation

Officers often filled roles of

• mental health workers

• Social workers

• Emergency responders

Lacked training

Structural inequalities and social service gaps places the police at the

Forefront of addressing crises rooted in systemic neglect