POLICE SUSPICION AND DISCRETIONARY DECISION MAKING DURING CITIZEN STOPS†

  1. GEOFFREY P. ALPERT1,
  2. JOHN M. MACDONALD2,
  3. ROGER G. DUNHAM3

Article first published online: 4 AUG 2005

DOI: 10.1111/j.0011-1348.2005.00012.x

Issue

Criminology

Criminology

Volume 43, Issue 2, pages 407–434, May 2005

Additional Information

How to Cite

ALPERT, G. P., MACDONALD, J. M. and DUNHAM, R. G. (2005), POLICE SUSPICION AND DISCRETIONARY DECISION MAKING DURING CITIZEN STOPS. Criminology, 43: 407–434. doi: 10.1111/j.0011-1348.2005.00012.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Professor and chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina. He has researched high-risk police activities for the past 20 years and recently completed studies in Miami, Florida and Savannah, Georgia. He is currently involved in the investigation of racial profiling in Miami and Los Angeles.

  2. 2

    Behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. His major interests include theoretical and applied issues related to the study of violence, juvenile justice, and policing. His current research at RAND focuses on evaluations of public safety agencies, violence and terrorism prevention, and developing performance measures for criminal justice agencies. He received his PhD in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland.

  3. 3

    Professor of sociology at the University of Miami. His current research includes several projects assessing police decision making involving citizen stops and racial profiling. His recent publications include Understanding Police Use of Force: Officers, Suspects, and Reciprocity (Cambridge University Press, 2004 and Critical Issues in Policing (Waveland Press, 2005) both with Geoffrey Alpert. He has co-authored papers that have recently appeared in The American Behavioral Scientist, Police Quarterly, and Justice Research and Policy.

  • †

    This research was supported by funding from the National Institute of Justice (2001-IJ-CX-0035). The opinions expressed in this paper do not represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice or the National Institute of Justice or the RAND Corporation and its clients. We would like to thank Carl Jenkinson, Jennifer Calnon, Robin Engel and the anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 4 AUG 2005
  2. Article first published online: 4 AUG 2005

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Keywords:

  • police decision making;
  • police suspicion;
  • citizen stops

This study examines the influence of racial, demographic and situational variables on types of police suspicion and the ancillary decision to stop and question suspects. Data were drawn from an observational study of police decision making in Savannah, Georgia. Based on the literature, we hypothesized that minority suspects will be more likely to be viewed suspiciously by the police for nonbehavioral reasons. We also hypothesize that minority status will play a significant role in the decision to stop and question suspicious persons. The findings from this study provide partial support for these hypotheses. The results indicate that minority status does influence an officer's decision to form nonbehavioral as opposed to behavioral suspicion, but that minority status does not influence the decision to stop and question suspects. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding race and its role in police decision making.

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