NCJ Number
211003
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2005 Pages: 193-223
Date Published
June 2005
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This article describes two studies that aimed to produce benchmark values with which to compare police "stop" data, so as to assess racial profiling in police stops.
Abstract
Prior studies have often measured racial profiling by comparing the racial and ethnic distribution from police stop rates to race and ethnicity data obtained from regional census counts. A more appropriate strategy for producing benchmark values, however, may be to determine the population of drivers or the population of traffic violators. In taking this approach, the current study surveyed drivers at tollbooths along the entire stretch of the New Jersey Turnpike to obtain self-reports of race and ethnicity (n=4,039). For drivers who refused to provide self-reports, race and ethnicity were based on researchers' observations, bringing the total number of drivers in the study to 4,656. Based on tollbooth locations, racial and ethnic representativeness were estimated for different sections of the Turnpike. A Turnpike Speed Survey was also conducted to determine the racial and ethnic characteristics of speeders on the Turnpike. This was done by measuring speeds of a sample of vehicles on the Turnpike while capturing high-resolution photographs of the drivers. Trained coders examined each photograph to determine the race or ethnicity of the driver. Vehicles speeds were used to determine whether the driver was a speeder or nonspeeder. Benchmark values from these two studies were then compared to police stops by State troopers who patrolled the Turnpike. The results showed that the racial composition of speeders differed from nonspeeding drivers and closely approximated the racial composition of police stops. The proportion of speeders identified as Black reflected the proportion of Black drivers stopped by police. 7 tables, 1 figure, 16 references, and appended supplementary data