By Cayley Russell, Geoff Bardwell, Matthew Bonn, Jade Boyd, Elaine Hyshka, Jurgen Rehm, Farihah Ali

 On January 31, 2023, BritishColumbia (BC) launched a 3-year pilot initiative decrim-inalizing the possession of up to 2.5 g of select illegal drugs. The policy aims to reduce stigma, address racial disparities in drug law enforcement, and improve police relations with people who use drugs (PWUD). As part of a national evaluation, we conducted qualitative inter-views with 100 PWUD who reported using drugs at least three times a week across BC between October 2023 and February 2024. Participants, diverse in sociodemograph-ics, drug use patterns, and police interaction histories,largely reported an adversarial relationship with police,marked by historical mistreatment and the targeting of individuals based on aspects of their social iden-tity, such as ethnicity, housing status, and other visible markers. Despite police generally adhering to the pol-icy, some participants reported unlawful drug seizures,reinforcing mistrust. Although some noted reduced fear of police, most felt their negative perceptions persisted post-decriminalization, highlighting a need for further police education and training to address stigma and inconsistent enforcement.Policy Implications: Our findings underscore the need for improved police education and training through bet-ter standardization, with an emphasis on promoting consistency and increased transparency, particularly in the use of discretion. Training should also address the impact of systemic racism and discriminatory policing practices to foster equitable interactions with PWUD.Further consideration of alternative nonpunitive legal approaches, alongside expanded harm reduction ser-vices, treatment options, social supports (such as hous-ing), and community-based initiatives, could be highly beneficial. Continued monitoring and evaluation of the policy's impact on PWUD is essential.

Criminology & Public Policy. Volume 24, Issue 3 Aug 2025

By Michael Rempel, Olive Lu, & Sarah Monaghan

In January 2020, New York’s landmark bail reform law went into effect. This report provides a definitive examination of how bail reform reshaped the pretrial landscape after five full years of implementation. Covering all regions of the state, and drawing on court data from 2018 to 2024 (spanning pre- and post-reform timeframes), the report examines bail reform’s impact on:

• Pretrial Decision-Making at Arraignment: Rates of release on recognizance, supervised release, bail, and pretrial detention; and estimated numbers of cases not resulting in pretrial detention due to changing practices under bail reform.

• Affordability of Bail: For cases that continue to be assigned bail, median bail amounts, bail posting rates, and judges’ use of “alternative” payment methods (partially secured bonds and unsecured bonds) that legislators intended to ease people’s ability to pay.

• Racial and Ethnic Disparities: Disparities among Black, Hispanic, and white people in judges’ rates of continuing to set bail or remand people directly to jail.

• Three Rounds of Bail Amendments: Effects of amendments respectively put into effect in July 2020, May 2022, and June 2023 (entailing a first-ever analysis of the 2022 and 2023 amendments).

New York: Data Collaborative for Justice, 2026. 47p.

By Gabriel R. Sanchez and Edward D. Vargas

• A recent Supreme Court decision allows the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to profile Americans based on perceptions that they look like an immigrant.

• The broad scope of this decision raises serious concerns that Latino citizens and long-term residents may face increased targeting, along with adverse effects on their health and well-being.

• As our analysis shows, this development compounds a long history of punitive immigration policies and racial profiling affecting Latino Americans.

The broad parameters established for being susceptible to ICE investigations put a large number of Latino citizens in jeopardy of being targeted, despite not being undocumented. For example, with an estimated 75% of Latinos across the country reporting that they can speak Spanish pretty well or very well, a large number of Latino citizens are likely to be questioned due to their potential to be perceived as speaking with an accent. When we asked a national sample of Latino immigrants about the accents in their speech patterns, 22% of Latino naturalized citizens reported that they had been discriminated against in their daily activities for speaking with an accent. Clearly, the use of language as a profiling tactic will lead to Latino citizens being unduly questioned and detained. 

Similarly, although it is challenging to determine how race or ethnicity might be perceived as a marker for immigration status, our national survey of Latino immigrants strongly suggests that many Latino citizens will be vulnerable to these criteria. In fact, we asked respondents directly what a white border patrol agent whom they might encounter would assume their race to be, based on their skin color, hairstyle, or facial features. Nearly half (48%) of naturalized Latino citizens reported they would be defined as Latino/Hispanic, and 19% said they would be defined as Mexican. Furthermore, 60% of naturalized citizens reported that their skin color is “medium, dark, or very dark” in our self-reported measure of skin color. These Latino citizens would be highly likely to be targeted under the profiling criteria permitted by the Supreme Court’s ruling.  

As we discuss in this post, this decision will have a marked impact on Latino Americans—a community that has long been targeted by punitive immigration policies and, as prior research suggests, has already been harmed by racial profiling tied to immigration enforcement. 

We have studied the implications of profiling based on immigration status for some time, employing survey measures to better understand how external perceptions of being foreign-born impact Latino Americans.  

Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2025

May Contain Markup

By Lucy Bonnerjea & Jean Lawton

Study Focus: The report examines homelessness in Brent within the context of race and housing, specifically looking at disadvantages faced by black people.

Historical Context: It provides a historical overview of homelessness legislation, highlighting the 1977 Housing Act And its impact on local authorities' responsibilities.

Current Issues: The document discusses current challenges in managing homelessness, including inadequate housing policies, discrimination, and the impact on families.

Recommendations: It offers policy recommendations to improve housing access, quality, and support for homeless families, emphasizing the need for equal opportunities and better planning.

Policy Studies Institute, 1987, 88 pages