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At the intersection: Race, gender, and discretion in police traffic stop outcomes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2020

Kevin Roach Open the ORCID record for Kevin Roach [Opens in a new window] ,
Frank R. Baumgartner Open the ORCID record for Frank R. Baumgartner [Opens in a new window] ,
Leah Christiani Open the ORCID record for Leah Christiani [Opens in a new window] ,
Derek A. Epp Open the ORCID record for Derek A. Epp [Opens in a new window]  and
Kelsey Shoub Open the ORCID record for Kelsey Shoub [Opens in a new window]
Kevin Roach*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Frank R. Baumgartner
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Leah Christiani
Affiliation:
University of Tennessee
Derek A. Epp
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin
Kelsey Shoub
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
*
*Corresponding author: Kevin Roach e-mail: kevroach@live.unc.edu
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Abstract

Racial disparities in traffic stop outcomes are widespread and well documented. Less well understood is how racial disparities may be amplified or muted in different contexts. Here we focus on one such situational factor: whether the initial traffic stop was related to a traffic safety violation or a (broadly defined) investigatory purpose. This is a salient contextual characteristic as stop type relates to different levels of assumed discretion and purpose. While all traffic stops involve some officer discretion, investigatory stops are more easily used as justifications to conduct a search based on an officer's diffuse suspicion; traffic safety stops are more often just what they seem. Using millions of traffic stops from several states, we show that black male drivers are more likely to be searched and less likely to be found with contraband and that this relationship is amplified where the initial stop purpose is investigatory. One implication of this is that one path to alleviating disparities in traffic stops for agencies is emphasizing traffic safety, rather than using stops as a supplemental investigatory tool.

Keywords

Racial disparitiespolicingbig datadiscretion in policytraffic stops
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , July 2022 , pp. 239 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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