Thread by @aaron_stagoff

I am very excited to share a project I have been working on with my @verainstitute colleagues, including @bodahesq, for two years! It's called the Social Costs of Policing: vera.org/publications/t…

We provide a comprehensive overview of the quantitative social science lit on the social costs and collateral consequences of policing to 4 areas of social welfare: health, education, economic wellbeing, and civic & social engagement. 46 studies from a variety of disciplines.

What do we mean when we say social costs? We demonstrate that exposure to a range of policing activities can have negative effects on people’s physical and mental health, earning potential, school achievement, and engagement in civic life, for example.

Why is this brief necessary? The traditional social science approach to conducting policing cost-benefit analysis is flawed. Studies that measure whether policing reduces crime are then used to justify police as an efficient and effective public safety investment...

...But there are a couple problems with this framework for evaluating policing. One major issue is that it only considers the potential crime reduction benefits of police and doesn't look at the social harms that make communities less healthy and prosperous.

We show that these costs are substantial and worth considering. Studies that don't consider them exaggerate the overall effectiveness of policing in improving social welfare and can't say how (or whether) policing is an efficient public safety investment.

For example, we cite:

@ProfDesmondAng on how local police killings reduced graduation rates for Black and Latinx students in Los Angeles.

@jlegewie on how Operation Impact in NYC reduced test-scores for African-American boys aged 13-15.

@Sarah_Brayne on how police stops and arrests lead to "system avoidance" behaviors, where people are less likely to have a bank account or to obtain medical care when needed.

@Dr_DylanJackson on how the mothers of children who are stopped by police suffer sleep problems.

@MarotoMichelle on how arrests decrease financial assets.

@brianna_remster on how policing can exacerbate housing instability.

...and many others.

The social costs of policing disproportionately impact Black and brown communities who have the most to lose and gain from effective public safety interventions.

They are incurred by even seemingly minor encounters like a street stop or arrest that don't lead to a conviction or any further criminal legal sanctions.

Even indirect exposure to police contact generates social costs. For instance, living in a neighborhood where police stop many people on the street but a person isn't stopped themselves.

We hope the brief can help shift public discourse on police and public safety away from the simple question of whether or how much police reduce crime. This is an important empirical and practical question but it has limits for policymaking.

Better questions: is policing worth its cost? Are there alternatives to improving public safety that don't generate harmful collateral consequences for communities? We know robust evidence exists here @jenniferdoleac @annalilharvey : vitalcitynyc.org/articles/stemm…

Some caveats -- obviously CBA and the like are limited tools. We aren't suggesting this is the only way to think about the relationship between policing and public safety.

We also aren't producing our own analysis trying to determine whether a given policing intervention outweighs its costs. We synthesize the literature, advocate for greater attention to social costs, and suggest greater investment in less costly public safety mechanisms.

Ultimately, we hope this will serve as a resource and a conversation starter for academics, policymakers, and the general public alike! We are presenting at #ASC2022 today at 2pm @ASCRM41, if you are around stop by.