Policing Abstracts
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“Traffic Stops in the Pacific Northwest: Competing Hypotheses About
Racial Disparity,” Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 6 (No. 1) 2008,
3-22.
This study examines the distribution of police traffic warning citations in a large
northwestern city. Warning tickets were instituted to document the exercise of
police discretion in the disposition of traffic stops. The paper tests three
competing hypotheses about how these citations are distributed: law
enforcement, traffic enforcement, and group threat. The findings show greater
support for the group threat explanation. African Americans were
disproportionately ticketed in the more affluent areas of the city with a higher
per capita income and a higher percentage of home ownership. The data also
demonstrated that traffic officers were more active than patrol officers in
predominately white beats, while patrol officers concentrated more on African
American and Asian areas of the city.
Racial Disparity,” Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 6 (No. 1) 2008,
3-22.
This study examines the distribution of police traffic warning citations in a large
northwestern city. Warning tickets were instituted to document the exercise of
police discretion in the disposition of traffic stops. The paper tests three
competing hypotheses about how these citations are distributed: law
enforcement, traffic enforcement, and group threat. The findings show greater
support for the group threat explanation. African Americans were
disproportionately ticketed in the more affluent areas of the city with a higher
per capita income and a higher percentage of home ownership. The data also
demonstrated that traffic officers were more active than patrol officers in
predominately white beats, while patrol officers concentrated more on African
American and Asian areas of the city.