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

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percent of those delivering drugs downtown to needle exchangers were black, but the observational study indicates that one-third of those delivering drugs downtown were black. As was discussed previously, this difference likely reflects the fact that the observational study captures information about those who sell crack cocaine to users who do not inject drugs and are therefore left out of the needle exchange survey (and the fact that the observational study omits those who deliver drugs indoors). The unit of analysis in the observational study is a drug transaction, not individuals who deliver drugs. If crack cocaine sellers were delivering that substance more frequently than people who deliver heroin, this difference would be captured by the results of the observational study. That is, insofar as the observational study treats transactions as the unit of analysis and captures crack cocaine deliverers who deliver to non-injection drug users, the results “control for” the frequency with which crack cocaine is exchanged downtown. Although 33 percent of the observed downtown drug deliveries involved black deliverers, the vast majority of downtown delivery arrests (85.3 percent) involved black suspects, 80 percent of whom were arrested for selling crack cocaine. In addition to this lack of empirical support, there is another potential problem with the hypothesis that crack cocaine is disproportionately represented among arrests because crack cocaine users tend to make comparatively frequent purchases. This hypothesis assumes that arrests result from police observations and on-the-spot detection. Yet the majority (52.1 percent) of the purposeful delivery arrests resulted from a buy-bust operation, where the crime is initiated by a law enforcement officer; only 23.8 percent were the result of purposeful observation (i.e. see-pop). A buy-bust arrest is the product of a single drug transaction rather than observations of a single seller making repeated transactions. To the extent that officers do not target particular individuals based on prior observations of involvement in drug activity, there is no necessary connection between the frequency with which any particular substance is exchanged and the nature of the drug requested in a buy-bust operation. In sum, the evidence indicates that most users of serious drugs in Seattle use a drug other than crack cocaine, and that heroin users tend to make more frequent purchases than crack cocaine users. In addition, the observational study captures information about the frequency with which all drugs, including crack cocaine, are exchanged; even when this information is included, blacks are significantly over-represented among downtown delivery arrestees. In short, the evidence indicates that the frequency with which crack cocaine is exchanged does not explain the over-representation of blacks among drug delivery arrestees. 83
HYPOTHESIS 4B: THE FOCUS ON CRACK COCAINE REFLECTS RESIDENT COMPLAINTS ABOUT NARCOTICS ACTIVITY When asked to explain drug law enforcement patterns in Seattle, police and city officials have suggested that SPD deployment decisions are driven primarily by public complaints. 124 Civilians may register complaints regarding drug activity in two ways. First, a civilian complaint regarding narcotics activity is sometimes recorded by SPD personnel as a “Narcotics Activity Report” (NAR). Alternatively, civilians may call 9-1-1 to report perceived and ongoing drug activity. In the previous analysis of civilian complaints about drug activity, 125 only NARs were made available by the Seattle Police Department for analysis. For the 2005–2006 time period, however, both NARs and civilian 9-1-1 calls initially coded as narcotics-related by the 9-1-1 dispatcher received in April and May 2005 and May 2006 were made available for analysis. It is important to note at the outset that civilian reports of drug activity may or not be accurate. Indeed, civilian complaints registered via 9-1-1 calls were not infrequently determined by police officers to have been incorrect and/or unreliable. For example, some 9-1-1 callers reported what they perceived to be a large group of black teenagers smoking crack cocaine; when the police arrived, they found instead a few youths, some of whom were smoking cigarettes (see Appendix B for this and other examples of unreliable civilian reports of drug activity). 126 Because officers are often unable to locate suspects upon arrival, and because this failure to locate suspects may or may not mean that the call was unreliable, it is not possible to determine the relative frequency of accurate and inaccurate reports. 127 Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that officers responding to 9- 1-1 calls about perceived narcotics activity typically responded in a timely fashion: the average (mean) number of minutes lapsed between the time the call was received by 9-1-1 dispatchers and the time officers arrived on the scene was less than 26; officers arrived at the scene within 15 minutes half of the time. Still, 124 See Klement and Siggins 2001: 26; Deposition of Robert Scales in State of Washington v. Richard Nelson, March 12, 2008, at p. 185; on file with author. 125 Beckett 2004. 126 An emerging body of research suggests that racial stereotypes shape perceptions of the seriousness and/or dangerousness of potentially crime-related situations, particularly when information about those situations is limited (Quillian and Pager 2001; Sampson and Raudenbush 2004). 127 Although officers may enter a disposition code that signifies the determination that the call was unfounded, officers do not always clear the call with this code even when they indicate in their response to dispatcher that the call was unreliable, unfounded or “bogus.” It is therefore not possible to count the number of unfounded or false complaints. 84
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RACE AND DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT IN SE
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This report was commissioned as par
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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES PAGE TAB
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Figure 9. Purposeful Seattle Drug D
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SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS FINDING 1 T
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FINDING 4 The focus on crack cocain
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INTRODUCTION Less than 5 percent of
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RACIAL DISPARITIES IN SEATTLE DRUG
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Table 1. Black and White Drug Arres
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esearchers found that rates of drug
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RESEARCH DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION OF
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serious drugs in Seattle are white.
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users: “Persons at almost all lev
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as the goal is to provide samples o
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percent of white Seattle residents,
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acial/ethnic groups. These data ind
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When approaching clients, surveyors
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youth. However, these surveys likel
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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
Page 68 and 69: PART III: EXPLAINING RACIAL DISPARI
Page 70 and 71: that a higher percentage of whites
Page 72 and 73: After clients had completed their s
Page 74 and 75: Table 13. Racial and Ethnic Composi
Page 76 and 77: whites engaging in the same behavio
Page 78 and 79: Analysis of the patterns found in t
Page 80 and 81: Table 16. Statistical Significance
Page 82 and 83: In sum, the evidence shows that rac
Page 84 and 85: those delivering drugs downtown wer
Page 86 and 87: for delivering a serious drug in Se
Page 88 and 89: to danger, instantaneous addiction
Page 90 and 91: 9.6 percent primarily abused other
Page 94 and 95: officers made a drug arrest, issued
Page 96 and 97: Figure 18. Geographic Distribution
Page 98 and 99: Figure 20. Geographic Distribution
Page 100 and 101: As these maps illustrate, civilian
Page 102 and 103: and infant health by crack cocaine
Page 104 and 105: Although the crack trade has been a
Page 106: Weapons were more likely to be seiz
Page 109 and 110: supports an alternative explanation
Page 111 and 112: Buckman, Charles, and John Lamberth
Page 113 and 114: Hagedorn, John M. 1994. “Homeboys
Page 115 and 116: Murphy, Sheigla and Dan Waldorf. 19
Page 117 and 118: Ritter, Alison. 2005. A Review of A
Page 119 and 120: United Nations International Drug C
Page 121 and 122: APPENDIX B: UNRELIABLE 9-1-1 CALL E
Page 123 and 124: Complaint: Arrival: Officer Update:
Page 126: ABOUT THE AUTHOR Katherine Beckett
Page 130: THE DEFENDER ASSOCIATION
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