Abstract
Although racial/ethnic disparities in police contact are well documented, less is known about other dimensions of inequity in policing. Sexual minority groups may face disproportionate police contact. We used data from the P18 Cohort Study (Version 2), a study conducted to measure determinants of inequity in STI/HIV risk among young sexual minority men (YSMM) in New York City, to measure across-time trends, racial/ethnic disparities, and correlates of self-reported stop-and-frisk experience over the cohort follow-up (2014-2019). Over the study period, 43% reported stop-and-frisk with higher levels reported among Black (47%) and Hispanic/Latinx (45%) than White (38%) participants. Stop-and-frisk levels declined over follow-up for each racial/ethnic group. The per capita rates among P18 participants calculated based on self-reported stop-and-frisk were much higher than rates calculated based on New York City Police Department official counts. We stratified respondents' ZIP codes of residence into tertiles of per capita stop rates and observed pronounced disparities in Black versus White stop-and-frisk rates, particularly in neighborhoods with low or moderate levels of stop-and-frisk activity. YSMM facing the greatest economic vulnerability and mental disorder symptoms were most likely to report stop-and-frisk. Among White respondents levels of past year stop-and-frisk were markedly higher among those who reported past 30 day marijuana use (41%) versus those reporting no use (17%) while among Black and Hispanic/Latinx respondents stop-and-frisk levels were comparable among those reporting marijuana use (38%) versus those reporting no use (31%). These findings suggest inequity in policing is observed not only among racial/ethnic but also sexual minority groups and that racial/ethnic YSMM, who are at the intersection of multiple minority statuses, face disproportionate risk. Because the most socially vulnerable experience disproportionate stop-and-frisk risk, we need to reach YSMM with community resources to promote health and wellbeing as an alternative to targeting this group with stressful and stigmatizing police exposure.
Highlights
Police-community relations in New York City have long been a topic of contentious debate, with investigative stops, alternatively known as “stop-andfrisk,” “Terry stops,” or “stop question and frisk” activity, a practice of particular prominence in public discourse and litigation since the 1990s [1–4]
Implemented by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) as a method of Broken Windows policing [5], stop-and-frisk was promoted as a tactic for enforcement of laws aimed against low-level social disorder with a parallel focus on the proactive detection and seizure of illegal guns [6]
The purpose of the current study was to describe levels of and factors associated with selfreported stop-and-frisk experience in young sexual minority men (YSMM) in New York City
Summary
Police-community relations in New York City have long been a topic of contentious debate (see Fagan et al, 2010 for a review), with investigative stops, alternatively known as “stop-andfrisk,” “Terry stops,” or “stop question and frisk” activity, a practice of particular prominence in public discourse and litigation since the 1990s [1–4]. Implemented by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) as a method of Broken Windows policing [5], stop-and-frisk was promoted as a tactic for enforcement of laws aimed against low-level social disorder with a parallel focus on the proactive detection and seizure of illegal guns [6]. In response to legal action taken against the NYPD stop-and-frisk program, reported stop activity has declined by more than 90% since its 2011 peak [7]. The decline reflects both a change in policing practices and recording practices [14]. The magnitude of the underreporting is unclear given a dearth of research on the magnitude of stop-and-frisk in the city
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