Key Announcements

Roundtable on Current Debates, Research Agendas and Strategies to Address Racial Disparities in Police-initiated Stops in the UK and USA taking place on the 10th – 11th August 2011 at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY.

Despite extensive research, campaigns and litigation, 'racial/ethnic profiling' persists in both the UK and USA creating a wedge between the police and communities. Police on both sides of the Atlantic rely heavily on powers to 'Stop and Search' or 'Stop and Frisk' people in public places. There is substantial statistical and other evidence suggesting that black people and ethnic minorities are disproportionally targeted, whether explicitly or implicitly, by these practices. The racial disparities have led to contested accusations that policing agencies engage in racial and ethnic profiling when attempting to enforce the law. Discussions of racial/ethnic profiling have become mired in arguments about intelligence, measuring proportionality and effectiveness. Polemics tend to ignore important initiatives and research findings showing that there are innovative ways to reduce racial/ethnic disproportionality and enhance community trust without cost and with benefits for police fairness and effectiveness.

The objective of the planned roundtable is to bring together key constituencies from academia, policing, the legal profession and civil society, from the UK and US, for a structured conversation about achievements, progress, gaps and potential pitfalls to strategies that address racial/ethnic profiling. The roundtable will focus primarily on police-initiated stops in domestic policing in both countries.

Jointly funded by John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Open Society Foundations.

Invitation Required.

- Agenda Click here

- Invited Guests Click Here

- Conference Papers

Panel One: police-initiated stop practices in the UK and the US: Where are we now?
Opening presentations:

• UK: Lee Bridges - Stop and search in the UK
• US: David Harris – Stop and frisk in the US
• US: Jon Shane - Police-Citizen Encounters

Panel Two: Identifying drivers of disproportionality in police-initiated stop practices.

• UK: Paul Quinton - Identifying the Drivers of Disproportionality in Police-Initiated Stop and Search Practices: A Study of Officer Decision-Making in England & Wales
• US: Charles Crawford and Jack Glaser - Drivers of Racial Disproportions in Police Stops and Searches

Panel Three: Are police-initiated stop powers effective?

• UK: Mike Ainsworth - Are police-initiative stop powers effective?
• US: John Lambeth, Lambeth Consulting - The Effectiveness of Stop and Frisk in the United States

Panel Four: Assessing impact of police-initiated stop powers on individuals and communities

• • UK: Ben Bradford - Assessing the impact of police-initiated stop powers on individuals and communities: the UK picture
• US: Rod Brunson and Jody Miller - Unintended Consequences of Racially Biased Policing in the United States

Panel Five: Strategies for change

• UK: Jane Basham – Stop and Search in Suffolk: A Community-led solution?
• UK: Jane Basham – Appendix: Suffolk stop and search form
• US: Nahal Zamani, Ian Head, Amanda Alexander, and Darius Charney - Advocating For Justice: Case Studeis in Combating Discriminatory Policing

Panel Six: Organizational strategies for change and regulation

• UK: Michael Shiner - Organisational Strategies for Change and Regulation
• US: Michael White - Controlling Police Officer Behavior in the Field: Using What We Know to Regulate Police-Initiated Stops and Prevent Racially Biased Policing