Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Codap R-Lab

Exploring Racial Disparities in New York City's Stop-and-Frisk Policies

Part 2: Accounting for Multiple Variables in One Graph

Was there less racial profiling with the removal of the NYPD stop and frisk policy after the 2013 court ruling? Data doesn’t occur in isolation. For any issue as complex as racial profiling, we must consider the multiple variables affecting our data.

2A: What Justification is Needed for Police to Search Someone?

It was a cold Halloween night in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1963. Officer McFadden was on duty when he noticed some suspicious behavior. A few men were loitering on a street corner, repeatedly peeking in a store window. McFadden confronted them, suspecting that they were casing the joint for a robbery. When they mumbled noncommittal answers to his inquiries, McFadden grabbed them, proceeded to frisk them, and discovered a pistol.

This controversial case brought up an important question. Did McFadden have the right to follow his gut and search the men? Or did he violate their 4th Amendment rights with “unreasonable searches and seizures”? Terry v. Ohio made its way up to the Supreme Court, where it was ruled legal for officers to stop and frisk people upon suspicion of danger, even without probable cause.⁶

Over the next few decades, many police departments increased this procedure as a preventative measure. In the 1980s, the NYPD made use of this greater freedom and began to stop and frisk more and more people. As the number of stops increased, so did complaints of police discrimination.

On August 12, 2013, a U.S. District Court in New York ruled that the stop-and-frisk practices of its police department were unconstitutional.⁷ In 2014, New York Civil Liberties Union stated that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had "... made stop-and-frisk reform a central issue in his campaign, and shortly after his election he moved aggressively to honor his campaign promises".⁸

2B: What Does the Data Say?

Figure 2 shows the number of arrests by race over time. There is a substantial decrease in the number of stop and frisk searches being conducted by NYPD after 2013.

One could look at these graphs and conclude that racial profiling—at least with stop and frisk procedures, has largely been eradicated. However, before making a conclusion, we will first look at the data carefully using the interactive visualization below.

2C: Explore the data:

Use the app below to make Figure 2 on your own. Then modify the graph to answer the questions on the right.

To make a graph that looks like Figure 2, select:

Y-axis Variable: Stopped

X-axis Variable: Race

Y-axis Measurement: Counts

Choose years: (2009-2016)

Facet By: Year

Color By: Race

To better evaulate more recent patterns in racial disparities of the NYPD stops, change "Choose all years" to (2014-2020)

Instructors Note: Go to faculty resources to access student data

2D: Get Curious

1. Create a graph similar to Figure 2, but only use data from recent years. Does it appear that there is a reduction in the racial disparity in police stops? Why or why not?

2. In the application above, how is the filter tab useful?

3. Does use of pepper spray and firearms during arrest differ between those identified as female and those identified as male?

4. Do people who were identified as female by the police have the same arrest patterns as those who were identified as male?

5. In the application above, create a graphic that uses both the "Facet By" and "Color By" options. What are some interesting patterns you can only see when both options are used?

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2C: Explore the data:

2D: Get Curious

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Questions?