A Link Between the George Floyd Incident and De-Policing: Evidence From Police Arrests Across Three Racial and Ethnic Groups

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the George Floyd effect on depolicing. Police misdemeanor and felony arrests by the Houston Police Department (HPD), with these police actions serve as the primary measures of law enforcement behavior. Specifically, we break down police misdemeanor and felony arrests among Hispanic, Black, and White residents. An Interrupted Time Series Analysis model is used in the analysis. The primary findings suggest that there was an initial steep drop of police arrests immediately after the Floyd incident for both misdemeanor and felony arrests. The long-term effect, however, remains present in only misdemeanant arrests. Police felony arrests went back to pre-incident levels within a short period of time. In addition, it is noted that the pattern of arrests between Blacks and Hispanics is similar. Some policy implications and the limitations of the study are discussed in a concluding section.