Analysis of Racial Disparities in the New York City Police Department's Stop, Question, and Frisk Practices

Raw statistics for encounters between New York City police officers and pedestrians suggest large racial disparities less than 89 percent of 2006 stops involved nonwhites. The New York City Police Department asked RAND to help it understand this and identify recommendations for addressing potential problems. RAND researchers analyzed 2006 pedestrian-police encounters, finding small racial differences in rates of frisk, search, use of force, and arrest. RAND researchers found small racial differences and make recommendations here for improvement.