Public support for law enforcement agencies recording of arrest statistics by race: A research note

This paper discusses research pertaining to law enforcement agencies' recording of crime statistics by race. Using data from a 2010 statewide poll in Pennsylvania, we examined whether there was support for the current policy that requires police to record the race of arrestees. In addition, the poll asked Pennsylvanians (N = 758) whether they believe that recording race and crime statistics promotes racial stereotypes. The study also examined the influence of several covariates (gender, age, race, and education) on the dependent measures. In particular, two hypotheses were tested; first, whether Whites would be more likely to support the recording of race statistics than non-Whites, and second, whether non-Whites would be more likely than Whites to believe that the recording of race statistics promotes racial stereotypes. The study found support for both hypotheses. The implications of these results are discussed.