Sociology 392J - S- Race and Policing

Focuses on key aspects of the often controversial relationship between race and police behavior in the United States. Our specific goals will be to provide students a detailed understanding of a number of these major controversies, and of the empirical evidence surrounding them. We will focus particularly on evidence involving racial profiling in drug enforcement, traffic stops, police use of force, searches and arrest decisions. While students are expected to become knowledgeable about the variety of ways empirical evidence is used to assess these specific issues in detail and depth, they are also expected to become critical thinkers about the broader issues of bias in policing, by both organizations as well as by individual officers.