(San Antonio, 29 June 2021) - UTSA criminology/criminal justice professors Michael R. Smith (UTSA) and Rob Tillyer (UTSA), collaborated with University of Cincinnati Professor Robin Engel to examine racial disparities in Fairfax County Police Department's (FCPD) use of force. The FCPD is one of the largest national county police departments. It serves Fairfax County in Virginia, which is a major metro area near Washington, D.C.Today, the team presented the 18-month-long study results to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. The team reviewed three years' worth of data, including 1,360 instances of force used against civilians by FCPD officers between January 1, 2016 - December 31, 2018.The team was charged with investigating the impact of civil race, ethnicity, and other factors on force used FCPD officers. They also had to make recommendations to reduce bias in officer decision making and improve future force data collection."Last year was a reminder of the racial, and social inequalities that exist for many Americans." Smith said that the larger socio-economic challenges facing the country include the protests after George Floyd's death, the COVID-19 pandemic and rising violence in many cities. "UTSA, as an urban-serving university, is committed to researching that can address the nation’s pressing problems."The researchers used benchmarks to compare force against ethnic and racial subgroups with the expected risk of force across these groups. They also used multivariate regression models in order to evaluate factors that influence the severity and total force used against Fairfax County civilians.Researchers compared the force used against major racial/ethnic groups in Fairfax County with the racial/ethnic composition of criminal suspects and arrestedes in the county. The study yielded the following key findings:The average force level for Blacks was slightly higher (2.4 on the 4.0 scale), while resistance levels were almost equal for all racial/ethnic groups.Hispanic civilians were significantly underrepresented in force cases, whereas the rates of force against Black and White civilians was consistently higher than the benchmarks. The benchmarking results for Asian civilians varied, with some showing an overrepresentation while others not.Comparing the rates of force against minorities to Whites using the same benchmarks revealed that the rate against minorities was lower then the rate against Whites in all but one instance.However, Black civilians and in a lesser extent Hispanic civilians were subject to more severe force than Whites. These findings varied from one district station to the next.Based on benchmark comparisons, the researchers found that force was used against Black and White civilians more frequently than expected and less often against Hispanic civilians. The researchers also discovered that Black civilians were more likely than Whites to be arrested with force.The FCPD was offered many constructive suggestions by the researchers to improve its data collection practices, improve its use force policies, and provide evidence-based training for officers to reduce future disparities in force use."The Fairfax County Police Department ranks among the top law enforcement agencies in the nation," Smith said. Smith said that Smith hopes his findings will provide Fairfax County residents with a roadmap to improve their lives.###
