The Impact of Race on the Police Decision to Search During a Traffic Stop

Abstract

Racial profiling is an important issue in contemporary policing. Research in this area, especially in the decision to search, has relied on an outcomes test and correlates that are largely devoid of theory. Thus, the research is unable to provide a clear understanding of police decision making during a traffic stop. The purpose of the present study was to examine this process. Using data from more than 36,000 traffic stops from Louisville, KY, the present study applies the focal concerns theory to this decision-making process. The research results indicate that blameworthiness is the primary reason that searches are performed for the entire sample of traffic stops as well as those for the Black and White subsamples.

Opening the Black Box of Officer Decision-Making: An Examination of Race, Criminal History, and Discretionary Searches

“…Some studies have examined whether the citizen involved in OPENING THE BLACK BOX OF OFFICER DECISION-MAKING 967 a police-citizen encounter was "known to police" 2 (Engel & Silver, 2001; also see Vito & Walsh, 2008) for a comparison of officer action in cases where the citizen was known vs. stopped), the reputation of the citizen 3 (i.e. whether the police believe the suspect has a criminal record, is carrying a weapon, will be assaultive, or is a gang member) , and whether a records check was initiated by the police (Alpert et al, 2005Higgins, Vito, & Grossi, 2012;M. Smith et al, 2006).…”

“…Results from these studies are mixed on the relationship between these variables and police behavior. For example, Alpert et al (2005) found no increase in traffic stops of minority citizens subjected to a records check, Higgins et al (2012) found no effect of records checks on the likelihood of a consent search, and Garner et al (2002) reported reduced use of force rates when the suspect was believed to be possess a gang affiliation. Conversely, Engel and Silver (2001) reported higher rates of arrest for individuals "known to the police," Gottfredson and Gottfredson (1988) indicated that suspects with a criminal record were more likely to be arrested, and M. Smith et al (2006) found arrest to be more likely if a records check was conducted on the citizen, but reported the relationship between minority citizens and arrest diminished once record checks were considered.…”

Ethnic profiling as negotiating: Traffic law enforcement in the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia)

“…Despite claims about discrimination against Since Lamberth's studies, the research on ethnic profiling has been extensive. Researchers have been examining the reasons for profiling, public perceptions of profiling, its consequences, procedural aspects, and ways of dealing with it (see, for example, Ioimo et al 2007;Liederbach et al 2007;Gilliard-Matthews, Kowalski, and Lundman 2008; Barnum and Perfetti 2010;Tillyer, Klahm IV, and Engel 2011;Higgins, Vito, and Grossi 2011;Lundman 2012;Tillyer and Engel 2013). For the most part, research was conducted in the field of traffic safety, apparently because of the availability of data.…”

Ethnic disparities in the issuance of multiple traffic citations to motorists in a southern suburban police agency

“…Previous research revealed city residents receive less enforcement action (Higgins et al, 2012;Novak, 2004), but other research revealed residents receive more enforcement (Ingram, 2007;Rojek et al, 2012). The results from the current study suggest city residents have increased odds of receiving multiple citations.…”

“…The theory argues there are three components of the decision making process: blameworthiness, protection of the community, and practical constraints and consequences (Steffensmeir, Ulmer, & Kramer, 1998). Higgins, Vito, and Grossi (2012) The research question examined in this study is "what are the differences in the odds of receiving multiple citations during a traffic stop when examining the ethnic dyad between the motorist and officer?" The question generates the following hypotheses derived from the tenets of focal concern and social conditioning theories:…”