The Influence of Neighborhood Wealth on Police Decisions to 1 Invoke the Law: An Empirical Assessment of Conflict Theory

Conflict theorists claim that police officers= decisions to use discretionary legal authority is a form of social control whereby the ruling classes, operating through the police, attempt to force their will on the less powerful (i.e., the poor). This study examines empirically to what extent the wealth of a neighborhood influences officers in their search decisions. To gather and analyze data, the study used a factorial survey approach with a sample of 1,259 patrol officers in New York City. Results indicate that officers tend to base their search decisions on legal parameters, not neighborhood wealth; conflict theory is not supported.