Police agencies on Facebook overreport on Black suspects

Ben Grunwald, Julian Nyarko and John Rappaport
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Ben Grunwald: a Duke University School of Law, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708;
Julian Nyarko: b Stanford Law School, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
John Rappaport: c University of Chicago Law School, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, vol. 119, issue 45, e2203089119

Abstract: By analyzing all Facebook posts from pages maintained by US law enforcement agencies, we show that Facebook users are exposed to posts about serious crimes that significantly overrepresent Black suspects relative to local arrest rates. Our results point to one mechanism by which the state itself may reinforce racial stereotypes about crime. Prior research shows that these stereotypes, in turn, may heighten demand for the state’s penal services.

Keywords: police; race; social media (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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