RACE AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF DRUG DELIVERY LAWS IN ...

CONCLUSION
The policies associated with the war on drugs are an important cause of the
expansion of the U.S. criminal justice system and of growing racial disparities
within it. Although racial disproportionality in drug arrests is a concern across
the nation, the over-representation of blacks among drug arrestees is especially
pronounced in Seattle. Indeed, only one of the other 39 mid-sized cities for which
data are available has a higher black-to-white drug arrest rate ratio than that
found in Seattle. Although a majority of Seattle residents who use and deliver all
serious drugs (with the possible exception of crack cocaine) are white, more than
two-thirds of those purposefully arrested for delivery of any serious drug in
2005–2006 were black. In 2006, the black drug arrest rate was more than 13 times
higher than the white drug arrest rate; for drug delivery arrests involving serious
drugs, the black arrest rate was 21 times higher and for purposeful drug delivery
arrests, the black arrest rate was more than 24 times higher. Moreover, the overrepresentation
of blacks among drug delivery arrestees remains large even after
taking potential differences in involvement in drug delivery into account.
The SPD’s focus on outdoor markets in general and the downtown area in
particular modestly exacerbate racial disproportionality in drug arrests.
However, the racial composition of those arrested indoors and outside of
downtown is not markedly different than of those arrested outdoors and
downtown. Thus, neither the focus on outdoor markets in general nor on the
downtown area in particular is a fundamental cause of black over-representation
among drug delivery arrestees. By contrast, the racial composition of those
arrested for delivering crack cocaine is markedly different than the racial
composition of those arrested for delivery of a serious drug other than crack
cocaine.
It is not possible to determine whether the SPD’s focus on black suspects explains
the preponderance of crack cocaine deliverers among delivery arrestees, or
whether its focus on crack cocaine deliverers leads to the over-representation of
blacks. For the sake of caution, this analysis has assumed that the latter is the
case: the SPD’s focus on those who deliver crack cocaine is a fundamental cause
of the over-representation of blacks among Seattle drug delivery arrestees. Yet
the focus on crack cocaine—the serious drug that is most strongly associated
with blacks—does not appear to be attributable to race-neutral factors, including
the frequency with which crack cocaine is exchanged, the distribution of civilian
complaints, public health considerations or public safety concerns. This finding
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