The Network Structure of Police Misconduct

High-profile deaths of Blacks at the hands of police have thrust the issue of police violence and misconduct to the forefront of national debate. Effective policy responses to police misconduct are hindered by antiquated models of decision making that reduce the debate to “bad apples” vs. “bad organizations,” thereby overlooking the ways in which social networks impact police behaviors. Sociologist Andrew Papachristos, in collaboration with the Northwestern Neighborhood and Network Initiative and Invisible Institute, will develop a data-driven approach to analyzing the network structures of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to determine the extent to which social networks impact officer behavior, misconduct, and violence. This study will examine how networks are formed and how they might be impacted by social, contextual, and organizational features, and the impact of these networks on officer-level and district-level behaviors.