The Influence of Departmental Intervention: Examining Post-Stop Outcomes Involving Minority Drivers

• In Event: What Works, What's New, and What's Troubling in Investigating Racially Biased Policing

Abstract

When faced with charges of racial profiling, police agencies often seek to understand if disparities in traffic stops and post stop outcomes are due to a few biased officers (Engel, Calnon, & Bernard, 2002; Epp, Maynard-Moody, & Haider-Markel, 2014). If this is the case, these officers face some internal action, be it increased training or disciplinary intervention. At issue then, is whether the intervention in officer behavior serves to reduce biased policing for that officer. The current study seeks to determine whether officers identified as potentially biased have differential stop outcomes by driver race than their peers in the future. To do this, we employ a two-year data set of self-initiated traffic stops in a southwestern police department, where in year 1, officers were identified as being potentially racially biased in their stop activity. We then proceed to model the effects of these officers being “flagged” as potentially problematic on their year two stop outcomes. We expect to see that intervention on the part of the police department reduce differential stop outcomes by driver race for these officers.

Authors

• Jessica L Huff, Arizona State University

• Danielle Wallace, Arizona State University

• Brooks Louton, Arizona State University