The Illusory End of Stop and Frisk in Chicago

28 Pages Posted: 23 Jun 2018 Last revised: 3 Jul 2023

See all articles by David Hausman

David Hausman

UC Berkeley Law School

Dorothy Kronick

University of California, Berkeley, The Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, Students

Date Written: June 23, 2023

Abstract

Critics of stop-and-frisk have heralded its recent demise in several large U.S. cities. Proponents of stop-and-frisk respond that when the practice ends, crime increases. Both groups typically assume that the end of stop-and-frisk reduces the number of police–civilian interactions. We find otherwise in Chicago: the decline in pedestrian stops coincided with an increase in traffic stops. Qualitative evidence suggests that the Chicago Police deliberately switched from pedestrian to traffic stops. Quantitative data are consistent with this hypothesis: as stop-and-frisk ended, Chicago Police traffic stops diverged (in quantity and composition) from those of another enforcement agency in Chicago, and the new traffic stops affected the same types of Chicagoans who were previously subject to pedestrian stops.

Keywords: Police, Criminal Justice, Reform, Chicago

JEL Classification: D02, D82, D73, D74, K42

Suggested Citation

Hausman, David and Kronick, Dorothy, The Illusory End of Stop and Frisk in Chicago (June 23, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3192908 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3192908

David Hausman

UC Berkeley Law School ( email )

2763-2719 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 94708
United States

HOME PAGE: http://david-hausman.com

Dorothy Kronick (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley, The Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, Students ( email )

Berkeley, CA
United States

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