Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Call for Editor
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Human Resources
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Human Resources

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Call for Editor
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Follow JHR on Bluesky
Research ArticleArticles

Whose Help Is on the Way?

The Importance of Individual Police Officers in Law Enforcement Outcomes

View ORCID ProfileEmily K. Weisburst
Journal of Human Resources, July 2024, 59 (4) 1122-1149; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0720-11019R2
Emily K. Weisburst
Emily Weisburst is an assistant professor of public policy at the Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles ().
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Emily K. Weisburst
  • For correspondence: weisburst{at}ucla.edu
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

References

    1. Aaronson, D.
    , L. Barrow, and W. Sander. 2007. “Teachers and Student Achievement in the Chicago Public High Schools.” Journal of Labor Economics 25(1):95–135.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  1. ↵
    1. Agrawal, N.
    2017. “Majority of Police in U.S. Say Their Job Has Gotten Harder.” Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pew-report-police-20170111-story.html (accessed January 31, 2024).
  2. ↵
    1. Aizer, A.
    , and J. Doyle. 2015. “Juvenile Incarceration, Human Capital and Future Crime: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 130(2):759–804.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  3. ↵
    1. Anbarci, N.
    , and J. Lee. 2014. “Detecting Racial Bias in Speed Discounting: Evidence from Speeding Tickets in Boston.” International Review of Law and Economics 38:11–24.
    OpenUrl
  4. ↵
    1. Antonovics, K.
    , and B.G. Knight. 2009. “A New Look at Racial Profiling: Evidence from the Boston Police Department.” Review of Economics and Statistics 91(1):163–77.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  5. ↵
    1. Anwar, S.
    , and H. Fang. 2006. “An Alternative Test of Racial Prejudice in Motor Vehicle Searches: Theory and Evidence.” American Economic Review 96(1):127–51.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  6. ↵
    1. Bhuller, M.
    , G. Dahl, K. Løken, and M. Mogstad. 2020. “Incarceration, Recidivism, and Employment.” Journal of Political Economy 128(4).
  7. ↵
    1. Braga, A.
    , W. Sousa, J. James Coldren, and D. Rodriguez. 2018. “The Effects of Body‐Worn Cameras on Police Activity and Police–Citizen Encounters: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Criminology 108(3):511–38.
    OpenUrl
  8. ↵
    1. Brayne, S.
    2017. “Big Data Surveillance: The Case of Policing.” American Sociological Review 82(5):977–1008.
    OpenUrl
  9. ↵
    1. Card, D.
    , A.R. Cardoso, J. Heining, and P. Kline. 2018. “Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory.” Journal of Labor Economics 36(51):13–70.
    OpenUrl
    1. Chetty, R.
    , J.N. Friedman, and J. E. Rockoff. 2014. “Measuring the Impacts of Teachers I: Evaluating Bias in Teacher Value‐Added Estimates.” American Economic Review 104(9):2593–632.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Cho, S.
    , F. Goncalves, and E. Weisburst. 2023. “The Impact of Fear on Police Behavior and Public Safety.” NBER Working Paper 31392. Cambridge, MA: NBER.
  10. ↵
    1. DeAngelo, G.
    , and E. Owens. 2017. “Learning the Ropes: General Experience, Task‐Specific Experience, and the Output of Police Officers.” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 142:368–77.
    OpenUrl
  11. ↵
    Department of Justice. 2017. “Supporting Federal, State, Local and Tribal Law Enforcement.” Memorandum. Washington, DC: Office of the Attorney General, Department of Justice, United States.
  12. ↵
    1. Dobbie, W.
    , J. Goldin, and C. Yang. 2018. “The Effects of Pretrial Detention on Conviction, Future Crime, and Employment: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Judges.” American Economic Review 108(2):201–40.
    OpenUrl
  13. ↵
    1. Fagan, J.
    , A. Braga, R. Brunson, and A. Pattavina. 2016. “Stops and Stares: Street Stops, Surveillance, and Race in the New Policing.” Fordham Urban Law Journal 43(3):539–614.
    OpenUrl
  14. ↵
    FBI. 2018. “Crime in the United States: Offenses Known to Law Enforcement 2017. Technical report. Washington, DC: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, United States.
  15. ↵
    1. Frydl, K.
    , and W. Skogan. 2004. Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
  16. ↵
    1. Gelman, A.
    , J. Fagan, and A. Kiss. 2007. “An Analysis of the New York City Police Department’s ‘Stop‐and‐Frisk’ Policy in the Context of Claims of Racial Bias.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 102(479):813–23.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  17. ↵
    1. Gonçalves, F.
    , and S. Mello. 2021. “A Few Bad Apples? Racial Bias in Policing.” American Economic Review 111(5):1406–41.
    OpenUrl
  18. ↵
    1. Grogger, J.
    , and G. Ridgeway. 2006. “Testing for Racial Profiling in Traffic Stops from behind a Veil of Darkness.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 101(475):878–87.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Guarino, C.
    , M. Maxfield, M. Reckase, P. Thompson, and J. Wooldridge. 2015. “An Evaluation of Empirical Bayes’ Estimation of Value‐Added Teacher Performance Measures.” Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics 40(2):190–222.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  19. ↵
    1. Guell, M.
    , J. Rodriguez‐Mora, and C. Telmer. 2015. “The Informational Content of Surnames, the Evolution of Intergenerational Mobility, and Assortative Mating.” Review of Economic Studies 82:693–735.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  20. ↵
    1. Hoekstra, M.
    , and C. Sloan. 2022. “Does Race Matter for Police Use of Force? Evidence from 911 Calls.” American Economic Review 112(3):827–60.
    OpenUrl
  21. ↵
    1. Horrace, W.C.
    , and S.M. Rohlin. 2016. “How Dark Is Dark? Bright Lights, Big City, Racial Profiling.” Review of Economics and Statistics 98(2):226–32.
    OpenUrl
  22. ↵
    1. Joh, E.
    2016. “Surveillance Discretion: Automated Suspicion, Big Data, and Policing.” Harvard Law and Policy Review 10:15–42.
    OpenUrl
    1. Kane, T.
    , and D. Staiger. 2008. “Estimating Teacher Impacts on Student Achievement: An Experimental Evaluation.” NBER Working Paper 14607. Cambridge, MA: NBER.
  23. ↵
    1. Knowles, J.
    , N. Persico, and P. Todd. 2001. “Racial Bias in Motor Vehicle Searches: Theory and Evidence.” Journal of Political Economy 109(1):203–29.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  24. ↵
    1. Knox, D.
    , W. Lowe, and J. Mummolo. 2020. “Administrative Records Mask Racially Biased Policing.” American Political Science Review 114(3):619–37.
    OpenUrl
    1. Koedel, C.
    , K. Mihaly, and J.E. Rockoff. 2015. “Value‐Added Modeling: A Review.” Economics of Education Review 47:180–95.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  25. ↵
    1. Lipsky, M.
    1980. Street‐Level Bureaucracy. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
  26. ↵
    1. Mastrofski, S.
    2004. “Controlling Street‐Level Police Discretion.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 593:100–118.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Morris, C.
    1983. “Parametric Empirical Bayes Inference: Theory and Applications.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 78(381):47–55.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  27. ↵
    1. Natapoff, A.
    2018. Punishment without Crime: How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal. New York: Basic Books.
  28. ↵
    1. Nickels, E.
    2007. “A Note on the Status of Discretion in Police Research.” Journal of Criminal Justice 35:570–78.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  29. ↵
    1. Reiss, A.
    1971. The Police and the Public. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  30. ↵
    1. Ridgeway, G.
    2018. “Policing in the Era of Big Data.” Annual Review of Criminology 1:401–19.
    OpenUrl
  31. ↵
    1. Ridgeway, G.
    , and J. MacDonald. 2009. “Doubly Robust Internal Benchmarking and False Discovery Rates for Detecting Racial Bias in Police Stops.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 104(486):661–68.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  32. ↵
    1. Spelman, W.
    , and D. Brown. 1984. “Calling the Police: Citizen Reporting of Serious Crime.” National Institute of Justice Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
  33. ↵
    U.S. Census. 2017. “American Community Survey: Demographic and Housing Estimates, Dallas, TX.” Technical report. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
  34. ↵
    1. Walker, S.
    1993. Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice 1950–1990. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  35. ↵
    1. Weisburd, S.
    2021. “Police Presence, Rapid Response Rates, and Crime Prevention.” Review of Economics and Statistics 103(2):280–93.
    OpenUrl
  36. ↵
    1. Weisburst, Emily
    . 2022. “Data and Code for: Whose Help is on the Way? The Importance of Individual Police Officers in Law Enforcement Outcomes.” Ann Arbor, MI: ICPSR. https://doi.org/10.3886/E160541V1
  37. ↵
    1. West, J.
    2018. “Racial Bias in Police Investigations.” Working Paper.
  38. ↵
    1. West, J.
    2019. “Learning by Doing in Law Enforcement.” Working Paper.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Human Resources: 59 (4)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 59, Issue 4
1 Jul 2024
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Human Resources.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Whose Help Is on the Way?
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Human Resources
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Human Resources web site.
Citation Tools
Whose Help Is on the Way?
Emily K. Weisburst
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2024, 59 (4) 1122-1149; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.0720-11019R2

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Whose Help Is on the Way?
Emily K. Weisburst
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2024, 59 (4) 1122-1149; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.0720-11019R2
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • I. Introduction
    • II. Institutional Background and Description of Data
    • III. Police Discretion in Arrests
    • IV. Arrest Propensity and Arrest Outcome Characteristics
    • V. Conclusion
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Prescription for Disaster
  • Occupation and temperature-related mortality in Mexico
  • Employers’ Language Proficiency Requirements and Hiring of Immigrants
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • K40
  • K42
  • J45
UW Press logo

© 2026 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire