Article ‘‘It Was a Bum Rap’’: Self-Reports of Being Erroneously Arrested

Individual-level predictors of erroneous arrest for illegal behavior are investigated using a national level, probability sample. The analysis specifically examines whether being a ‘‘usual suspect’ ’ based on previous criminal behavior and being male; ‘‘guilt by association’ ’ based on the illegal behavior of one’s friends; academic achievement; and sociodemographic variables including ethnicity and socioeconomic status, impact the likelihood of being erroneously arrested for a crime. Results sug-gest that officers may be erroneously arresting minorities and individuals who have low academic achievement. Implications for policy and future research are considered. Keywords police processes, law enforcement/security, police culture/accountability, quantitative methods, other Arrests that are erroneous for any reason are a serious concern in the United States, for both individuals and police departments. For individuals, these actions could cause harms in the form of the possibility of being falsely labeled as a criminal, the loss of family trust, job loss, high finan-cial costs, incarceration, and so on (Becker, 1966; King, 2009; Lemert, 1951). In addition to the potential harm levied on the erroneously arrested individual, if it becomes clear that police are mak-ing erroneous arrests, especially in cases in which the general public perceives the police to be acting with a bias (e.g.,, erroneous arrests of males or Hispanic individuals), police are likely to face a loss of trust from the public. This may result in more aggression from citizens who perceive themselves to be among the targeted (Fagan & Davies, 2000). It should also be noted that erroneous arrests can result in negative labels for police departments. This means that just one incident of erroneous arrest, if highly publicized by the media, may colo