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Now You See Me, Now You Don't: The Geography of Police Stops

Author

Listed:
  • Jesse Kalinowski

    (Quinnipiac University)

  • Matthew Ross

    (Wagner School of Public Service, New York University)

  • Stephen L. Ross

    (University of Connecticut)

Abstract

This paper uses state police stop data in Texas to assess patrol activity. We find that both the types of stops and the allocation of resources over space change in darkness relative to daylight, and that the changes in stop type and manpower allocation are correlated within police officers. We also find that the counties receiving more police resources in darkness have a higher share of minority residents. Veil of Darkness (VOD) tests of racial discrimination in traffic stops require that the distribution of motorists be independent of darkness, which is unlikely to be the case without detailed geographic controls.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesse Kalinowski & Matthew Ross & Stephen L. Ross, 2018. "Now You See Me, Now You Don't: The Geography of Police Stops," Working Papers 2018-094, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2018-094
    Note: MIP
    as

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    File URL: http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Kalinowski_Ross_Ross_2018_geography-of-stops.pdf
    File Function: First version, December, 2018
    Download Restriction: no
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesse Kalinowski & Stephen L. Ross & Matthew B. Ross, 2017. "Endogenous Driving Behavior in Tests of Racial Profiling in Police Traffic Stops," Working Papers 2017-017, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Grogger, Jeffrey & Ridgeway, Greg, 2006. "Testing for Racial Profiling in Traffic Stops From Behind a Veil of Darkness," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 101, pages 878-887, September.
    3. William C. Horrace & Shawn M. Rohlin, 2016. "How Dark Is Dark? Bright Lights, Big City, Racial Profiling," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(2), pages 226-232, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Abrahams, Scott, 2020. "Officer differences in traffic stops of minority drivers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    police; traffic stops; patrol locations; veil of darkness; racial profiling; racial discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government

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