In Chicago,
research shows that Black and Hispanic officers have a higher proficiency in understanding the communities they serve. Over 7000 police officers were tracked during a four year period with nearly 1.6 million interactions analyzed. Researchers showed that minority officers were 20-30% more proficient at understanding if an interaction should be escalated than their white counterparts.
The biggest discrepancy was shown in lesser offenses such as traffic and drug related interactions. Data showed that violent crimes and robberies were treated nearly identical regardless of the officer's background. This research suggests that law enforcement would benefit from having officer's who reflect the background of the population's that they serve.
