Racial Profiling and Policing of Youth in New Bedford

The New Bedford Police Department reports incidents involving young people of color at disproportionate rates that are shocking in a white majority city. Additionally, there are patterns of over-policing lower-income neighborhoods, both formally and informally, as police officers are encouraged to live in public housing by rents that are discounted far below that of other residents and communities of color bearing the brunt of frequent stops and interrogations by the NBPD.

The NBPD maintains a database of residents it alleges are gang affiliated, the majority of whom are young men of color. Though criteria are subjective, inclusion on the database is used as a pretext to violate the rights of listed people and, they report, their families as well. A handful of officers account for almost half of the incidents involving Black and Latinx residents. Like most departments, NBPD operates on a seniority system that makes it difficult for younger recruits to object to biased behavior – even against themselves when they are people of color.

Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CfJJ) obtained the information in this report through police department data, interviews with stakeholders in New Bedford, and media accounts. Key facts include:

Despite constituting under 7% of the New Bedford population, African-Americans represented greater than 46% of all police incidents from 2015 through June 2020.

Black people are over 21 times more likely to be on the gang list than white people; among New Bedford residents on that list, Blacks are more than 27 times as likely to be on the list.

Ten officers were involved in nearly 46% of all incidents. These officers mainly stopped Black or Latinx people.

Five officers reported on 47% of all incidents concerning minor children under 18, as well as slightly over 47% all interactions with anyone under the age of 20.

The report contains recommendations from CfJJ and from New Bedford youth to reform policing in the city. These include:

• Implement a racial profiling policy that defines racial profiling as a law enforcement officer’s reliance – to any degree – on a person’s race to determine whom to target for law enforcement action. That affirms that racial profiling is unconstitutional and that it undermines effective policing.

• Discontinue the practice of having police officers living virtually rent-free in/near public housing.

• Stop compiling and utilizing such a database that is overwhelmingly populated by youth of color. The Massachusetts Legislature should consider legislation that limits the use of gang databases, and requires means of identification, notification, and facility to appeal such designation.

• The school superintendent should respond to demands from advocates and members of Black and brown communities and remove school resource officers from New Bedford Public Schools.