An Evaluation of New York City’s Stop, Question, and Frisk Policy

New York City’s stop, question, and frisk (SQF) policy has been the topic of much debate and controversy, related to both the perception of race-based disparities in implementation, as well as the effectiveness of the policy in reducing crime. Using SQF data, and Compstat crime statistics, the Capstone team aimed to answer the question of whether the level of crime is a significant predictor of the intensity of SQF activity. Using regression models and controlling for other influencers of crime rates (e.g. weather), the team examined how accurately historical crime rates can predict future levels of crime, and then focused on the relationship of the SQF variable to crime on a precinct-by-precinct basis in order to identify whether SQF results in a reduction in crime.