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

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RACIAL DISPARITIES <strong>IN</strong> SEATTLE <strong>DRUG</strong> ARRESTS Several recent studies indicate that Seattle’s drug arrests are characterized by an especially high degree of racial disproportionality, and that blacks in particular are over-represented among Seattle drug arrestees. “Disproportionality” and “over-representation” are measured in a number of ways in these studies. In some cases, the conclusion that blacks are over-represented among Seattle drug arrestees is based on a comparison of the racial composition of Seattle drug arrestees with the racial composition of the city population. 20 Klement and Siggins (2001) found, for example, that 8 percent of Seattle’s population, but 57 percent of those arrested for drug crimes in 1999, were black. As these researchers noted, comparisons of this sort provide a useful starting point, but do not take into account the racial composition of those who violate drug laws and are therefore likely candidates for arrest. Another method involves comparing racial disproportionality in drug arrests in a particular geographic area with that found in comparably-sized areas. Some criminal justice analysts have criticized comparisons of arrest rates and general population statistics on the grounds that the appropriate comparison, or benchmark, is the offender population rather than the general population. 21 Although it is important to consider the racial composition of those actually breaking the law, comparing the magnitude of racial disparities (based upon general population statistics) across jurisdictions is also instructive. 22 Significant discrepancies in the degree to which blacks are over-represented among drug arrestees in comparably-sized cities are unlikely to reflect racial differences in drug law violation. For example, if the black drug arrest rate is twice the white drug arrest rate in one jurisdiction, but twenty times higher than the white drug arrest rate in another, analysts often infer that the cause of this variation lies largely in enforcement practices rather than in racial differences in drug law offending. 23 Comparisons of this sort entail calculating the black and white drug arrest rate (per capita), then dividing the former by the latter. The result, sometimes referred to as the “black-to-white drug arrest ratio,” is a measure of the extent to which blacks are over-represented among drug arrestees relative to the general population across jurisdictions. 20 See Klement and Siggins 2001. 21 Buckman and Lamberth 1999; Engel and Calnon 2004. 22 For some recent examples, see King 2008; Human Rights Watch 2008. 23 Ibid. 7
A recent study of black over-representation in drug arrests in U.S. mid-sized cities in the year 2000 found that only one of these cities (San Francisco) had a higher black drug arrest rate (i.e. the number of drug arrests involving black suspects per 1,000 black residents) than Seattle. 24 Moreover, Seattle’s black drug arrest rate was 10.2 times greater than the white drug arrest rate in the year 2000, the greatest disparity among all the mid-sized cities for which data are available (see Table 1). Thus, the data shows that both the black drug arrest rate and the extent of racial disparity in drug arrests have been comparatively high in Seattle in recent years. 24 Beckett, Nyrop and Pfingst 2006. These cities include all of those with populations between 500,000 and one million residents that also reported arrest data to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. 8
Page 1 and 2: RACE AND DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT IN SE
Page 3 and 4: This report was commissioned as par
Page 5 and 6: LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES PAGE TAB
Page 7 and 8: Figure 9. Purposeful Seattle Drug D
Page 10 and 11: SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS FINDING 1 T
Page 12 and 13: FINDING 4 The focus on crack cocain
Page 14 and 15: INTRODUCTION Less than 5 percent of
Page 18 and 19: Table 1. Black and White Drug Arres
Page 20 and 21: esearchers found that rates of drug
Page 22 and 23: RESEARCH DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION OF
Page 24: serious drugs in Seattle are white.
Page 27 and 28: users: “Persons at almost all lev
Page 29 and 30: as the goal is to provide samples o
Page 31 and 32: percent of white Seattle residents,
Page 33 and 34: acial/ethnic groups. These data ind
Page 35 and 36: When approaching clients, surveyors
Page 37 and 38: youth. However, these surveys likel
Page 39 and 40: 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
Page 41 and 42: or partially publicly-funded treatm
Page 43 and 44: Primary Drug of Abuse Cocaine (all
Page 45 and 46: system at the time of their death w
Page 47 and 48: did not transfer drugs to the buyer
Page 49 and 50: Insofar as many drug users knowingl
Page 51 and 52: the person who provided these subst
Page 53 and 54: Table 7. Racial and Ethnic Composit
Page 55 and 56: Table 8. Summary of Data Pertaining
Page 57 and 58: ut only 89 for methamphetamine, ecs
Page 59 and 60: time. 87 As noted previously, this
Page 61 and 62: Drug delivery arrests continue to b
Page 63 and 64: In sum, many of the arrest patterns
Page 65 and 66: Table 10. Racial Disparity in Drug
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PART III: EXPLAINING RACIAL DISPARI
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that a higher percentage of whites
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After clients had completed their s
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Table 13. Racial and Ethnic Composi
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whites engaging in the same behavio
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Analysis of the patterns found in t
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Table 16. Statistical Significance
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In sum, the evidence shows that rac
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those delivering drugs downtown wer
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for delivering a serious drug in Se
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to danger, instantaneous addiction
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9.6 percent primarily abused other
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percent of those delivering drugs d
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officers made a drug arrest, issued
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Figure 18. Geographic Distribution
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Figure 20. Geographic Distribution
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As these maps illustrate, civilian
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and infant health by crack cocaine
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Although the crack trade has been a
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Weapons were more likely to be seiz
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supports an alternative explanation
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Buckman, Charles, and John Lamberth
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Hagedorn, John M. 1994. “Homeboys
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Murphy, Sheigla and Dan Waldorf. 19
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Ritter, Alison. 2005. A Review of A
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United Nations International Drug C
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APPENDIX B: UNRELIABLE 9-1-1 CALL E
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Complaint: Arrival: Officer Update:
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Katherine Beckett
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THE DEFENDER ASSOCIATION
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