POCKETED PROCEEDS: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF FINANCIALLY INCENTIVIZED POLICING IN AMERICA

Abstract

Emergent evidence across the United States suggests racial minorities are disproportionately impacted by the police power to seize property suspected to have a connection to criminal activity. Police have long claimed that the driving factor behind disproportionate asset seizure in minority communities is disproportionate rates in criminal offending, even though there is limited evidence supporting this claim. This paper endeavors to test the relationship between asset seizure and crime. Through analysis of data collected from six states, I find that crime is not significantly related to asset seizure, providing evidence against the aforementioned crime-based policing justification. My results indicate that when considering two different measures of asset seizure, a significant relationship is observed between percentage of the population that is African American and asset seizure in multiple instances. My results also suggest that an additional relationship between unemployment and asset seizure exists in one of the cases considered. These findings imply that seizures are deployed in higher numbers in areas that meet these descriptive criteria independent of the rate of crime. My results bolster findings presented in the literature review which assert that the policy of civil asset seizure is not an effective crime deterrent mechanism and encourages police to cause undue harm to low-income, minority communities by incentivizing policing for profit.