Longer ‐​Run Impacts from Outrageous Policing Incidents

Aaron YelowitzThe past few weeks have seen broad ‐​based community outrage from extremely disturbing incidents involving current or former police officers in the killing of 44‐​year‐​oldGeorge Floyd in Minneapolis, 26 ‐​year‐​oldBreonna Taylor in Louisville, and 25 ‐​year‐​oldAhmaud Arbery near Brunswick, Georgia. In all cases, the victims were African ‐​American and the events have spotlighted the role of racism in policing.In the immediate aftermath —which exploded during the week of May 25th—there were both peaceful and violent protests, destruction of private and public property, and additional injury in Minneapolis, Louisville, Atlanta, and far beyond. There is no question that the short‐​run costs to each city and its residents will be enormous.Poor underlying race relations between the police and community has long ‐​term costs, too, an issue that I explored with my colleague Tim Harris in a study published inJournal of Housing Economics in 2018. In the study, we explored whether poor underlying race relations in an area might create a chilling effect on homeownership for minorities. We focused on home ownership —an easily measured outcome in many data sets—because it is related to the decision to “plant one’s roots” and invest in a community. It has been argued that home ownership is associated with both private benefits (such as wealth accumulation and better child outcomes) as well as communit...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs