Racial and ethnic profiling in Massachusetts: An examination of police policy and practice

The use of extra-legal factors such as race and ethnicity in police decision-making impacts the public's overall trust and confidence in the law and in the police as enforcers of the law. Because the police play a key role in ensuring the primacy of the rule of law, the practice of racial profiling can undermine the legitimacy of the law in American communities. Widespread recognition of the problem during the 1990s led several states to pass legislation banning the practice of racial profiling.;In Massachusetts, the legislature enacted a statute with the purpose of identifying the cities and towns in which racial profiling was occurring (2000 Mass. Acts Ch. 228). This study examines whether the enforcement of the law led to changes in police policies and practices and whether these changes have affected disparity for Black and Latino motorists across 202 municipalities and over time.;Characteristics of the municipalities in which police agencies operate and factors related to the structure of police organizations were examined as potential predictors of reform and disparate traffic outcomes. Building on research showing that the racial composition of a municipality where a traffic stop takes place influences police activity, the analyses confirmed that officers issued traffic citations at disparate rates to Black and Latino motorists more frequently in municipalities with relatively larger minority populations. In addition, levels of disparity increased over the study period in these municipalities.;Police forces with more diversity, a higher proportion of college educated officers, and a greater number of ranks were more likely to be associated with the adoption of reforms. Although a majority of the agencies in the sample undertook a variety of reforms, they were not effective for reducing disparity. Instead, they appear to play a ceremonial role in terms of demonstrating agency concern about racial profiling. The findings raise questions about how to effectuate change in traditionally monolithic organizations that resist it.