Policing Strategies and Potential Targets: The Influence of Gentrification and Crime on the Stoppage of Blacks and Hispanics in New York City

Abstract This research examines the influence gentrification and crime exert on Black and Hispanic stops in New York City. The stoppage of minorities remains one of the country’s more contentious topics as it weighs the rights of the community over the rights of the individual. In a city of eight million, law enforcement, employing the stop-and-frisk, has managed to stop over five million across the span of a decade with the majority being Black and Hispanic. Local law enforcement claims the stops were about crime; the groups most affected claim the stops were about race and space. This research tests both claims across two time periods utilizing a stepwise regression. Results revealed that crime was a significant predictor for stops concerning the Black group across both time periods while gentrification was a significant predictor for Hispanic stops across both time periods.