Under-policing and apprehensiveness toward stopping minorities across white and nonwhite officers post-Ferguson

Abstract This pilot study examines police patrol activity, specifically engagement in under-policing, and investigatory-apprehensiveness toward minorities across White and nonwhite patrol officers in the context of policing post-Ferguson. Using a sample of unranked, patrol-duty officers in the United States (n = 887) from an online survey a series of multivariate binary logistic models suggest that although departmental and officer level variables can predict the likelihood of practicing under-policing and being apprehensive toward stopping minorities, various contextual post-Ferguson variables beyond de-policing also matter. Further, predictors of under-policing and apprehensiveness toward stopping minorities are different across White and nonwhite patrol officers. Results suggest the post-Ferguson period appears to have made an impression on patrol officers’ behaviors.