Enforcing Inequality: Do Federal Subsidies Disproportionately Militarize Police in Low-Income and Minority Communities?

Since the late 1990s, federal government programs have given billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies and has subsidized the purchase of surveillance drones, lethal robots, and facial recognition software. The assessments used to determine which local departments to target rely on factors that are highly correlated with non-White populations. Political scientist Kenneth Lowande will investigate whether federal law enforcement programs disproportionately militarize police departments in low-income and minority communities and the consequences of police militarization for communities. He will analyze data on military shipment records through the 1033 Program and the Homeland Security Grant Program for his study.