Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Arrest Rates during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Structural racism in police contact is an important driver of health inequities among the U.S. urban population. Hyper-policing and police violence in marginalized communities have risen to the top of the national policy agenda, particularly since protests in 2020. How did pandemic conditions impact policing? We assess neighborhood racial disparities in arrests after COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in Boston, Charleston, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco census tracts (January 2019-August 2020). Using interrupted time series models with census tract fixed effects, we report arrest rates across tract racial and ethnic compositions. In the weeks following stay-at-home orders, overall arrest rates were 39% lower (95% CI: 37-41%) on average compared to rates the year prior. Although arrest rates stea

SUBMITTER: Jahn JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8751464 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature