Traffic Stops and Searches and Implicit Bias - An Exploratory Data Analysis of a GIS Data Set

• In Event: Roundtable: Policing - Stop and Search

Abstract

A preliminary exploratory analysis of data regarding traffic stops and searches was performed using data from the Greensboro North Carolina Police Department (GPD) Geographical Information System. The data includes information regarding stops and searches between January 2, 2009 and June 29, 2015 and data from the 2010 Census. The findings from the data analysis lend itself to a discussion about traffic stops and traffic searches in cities with similar characteristics to Greensboro and the concerns about implicit racial bias among police departments. The report that was developed from this particular data analysis provides opportunity for discussion of implications for police departments, city governments, workforce development, and the part that poverty plays in the bias traffic stop and search conversation. Recommendations are made for further research.

Authors

• Karen Jackson, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University

• Mike Maume, University of North Carolina at Wilmington