2020/02/12 by Frank R. Baumgartner, Kate Bell, Luke Beyer +17 · 1 voice · 5 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Policing Practices and Perceptions #Public Policy and Administration Research #Regulation and Compliance Studies
paper · doi:10.1111/psj.12382
openalex publication_date 2020/02/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/05
We evaluate the factors associated with an officer’s decision to search a driver or vehicle after a routine traffic stop, and we compare the accuracy of these searches by looking at the share leading to arrest. Racial disparities in search rates by race and gender of driver are similar for all types of officers; all tend to search Black male drivers at higher rates than any other demographic. White male officers have higher search rates for all types of drivers. Further, they conduct the greatest share of “fruitless searches” (those not leading to arrest), and these searches are particularly targeted on those drivers with the greatest number of cumulative disadvantages.