Racial Profiling, the War on Drugs, and Urban Poverty

Introduction: Race and Drug Enforcement Disparities

Law enforcement officers often claim that racial disparities in rates of arrest and conviction for drug crimes merely correspond to differences in rates of criminal behavior. Critics argue, however, that law enforcement officers simply assume minorities are more likely than whites to transport drugs — and that this assumption is reflected in the fact that African Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately arrested and convicted for narcotics offenses (Banks). Understanding whether these disparities stem from differential behavior or differential enforcement is central to evaluating the fairness of the War on Drugs as a policy framework.

Incarceration Data and Racial Inequality

Research demonstrates the overall negative impact of current drug enforcement policies on minorities who live in poor inner-city neighborhoods (Coker). Official incarceration data reveals that although African Americans make up roughly twelve percent of the national population, they represent approximately half of all those incarcerated for crimes (Coker). In the year 2002, approximately twelve percent of African American men between the ages of twenty and thirty-four were either in jail or prison, compared to 1.6 percent of white men in the same age group (Coker).

Researchers with the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimate that twenty-eight percent of African American males will be jailed or imprisoned at some point in their lives. A study conducted by the Sentencing Project reports that one in three — 32.2 percent — of African American men between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine are under the supervision of the criminal justice system on any given day (Coker).

This racial disparity is believed to result from War on Drugs policies that focus on "supply-side" enforcement against low-level dealers in inner-city areas (Coker). In federal prison, the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, coupled with a federal law enforcement focus on crack offenses, plays a significant role in creating this disparity (Coker). Despite higher rates of incarceration for drug offenses, data shows that African Americans do not use drugs at higher rates than whites (Coker). According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, the rate of illicit drug use was 7.4 percent among African Americans, 7.2 percent among whites, and 6.4 percent among Hispanics — yet African Americans represented more than 57 percent of those incarcerated for drug offenses in state prisons (Coker).

Traffic Stops, Searches, and Opportunity to Arrest

Police officers are more likely to stop African Americans during traffic enforcement, and once stopped, officers are more likely to search their vehicles. According to 2001 racial profiling traffic stop data from San Diego, African American drivers had a sixty percent greater chance of being stopped than white drivers, and Hispanic drivers had a thirty-seven percent greater chance. Once stopped, African American drivers were also more likely to have their vehicles searched (Coker). Many researchers argue that this increased opportunity to discover criminal offending is a significant reason for the disproportionate rate of arrest and incarceration of African Americans (Coker).