Policing the Police: A Retrospective Analysis of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Police Encounters at a Public Research Medical University

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PRESENTERS
EPHRAT FISSEHA, BS
University of Colorado School of Medicine and School of Public Health
BACKGROUND
Disparities in police encounters have been documented to exhibit a bias against Black and Latinx individuals. This study aims to investigate racial/ethnic disparities in police encounters and arrests in a public university setting at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus (AMC) in Aurora, Colorado.
SETTING/POPULATION
The study is set within the AMC Police jurisdiction which includes the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus and the surrounding neighborhoods in Aurora, Colorado. The population includes individuals who have had a police encounter with the AMC police between 2010 and 2019.
METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of all police encounters at the AMC from 2010 to 2019. We collected demographic data including race and ethnicity as well as reasons of the encounter. Poisson’s regression was used to find correlations between the different variables.
RESULTS
Among the 5118 police encounters, 13.2% (680) resulted in arrests. White individuals made up 73.2% (3,499) of total encounters and 64.4% (434) of arrests (p<0.001). Black and Latinx individuals made up 22.2% and 19.1% of encounters respectively and made up 33.1% and 27.7% of all arrests (p<0.001). Furthermore, Black (RR 1.52, 95% CI: 1.26-1.83, p<0.001) and Latinx (RR 1.41, 95% CI: 1.16-1.71, p<0.001) individuals had a greater likelihood of their encounters leading to arrest when compared to White individuals after adjusting for age, sex, crime classification, and reason for being on campus. Compared to White individuals, Black individuals were 7.79 (95% CI 1.35-44.9) times more likely to be arrested for a suspicious incident and American Indian/Alaskan Native individuals were 5.5 (95% CI: 3.19-9.33) times more likely to be arrested for an assault. American Indian/Alaskan Native (RR 7.14, 95% CI: 5.76-9.21), Black (RR 1.52, 95% CI: 1.04-2.22), and Latinx (RR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.13-1.60) individuals were more likely to be arrested if they were unaffiliated with the campus. [/su_box]
CONCLUSIONS
Black and Latinx individuals are disproportionately represented in police encounters compared to White individuals and are at higher risk of arrests than White individuals at a public research medical university and medical campus setting.
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Posted in 2022 Poster Session, Engagement and Equity.