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EricLaubThesis2020.pdf (648.78 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Are the Police Racist? Evidence from Traffic Stop Outcomes

Laub, Eric Franklin
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5669-8423
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1596020889916973

Abstract Details

2020, Master of Arts, Miami University, Economics.
I use data from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Florida Highway Patrol to test for racial bias in traffic stop outcomes and to analyze racial bias training in Pittsburgh. The primary empirical obstacles are selection and omitted variable bias. Selection occurs when officers select into patrol areas or individual interactions based on race, which leads to different racial groups of officers interacting with different distributions of motorists. The omitted variable problem arises from unobservable civilian factors which may be correlated with civilian race and receiving traffic citations or getting arrested after a traffic stop. I use high speeds on the highway and stops made in low visibility conditions to argue for random officer assignment to each interaction in Florida. I utilize fixed effects regressions to capture within-officer civilian race effects and then I compare civilian race effects across officer racial groups to combat omitted variable bias. I find suggestive evidence of widespread bias in both datasets, and that racial bias training in Pittsburgh may have backfired in the realm of traffic stop outcomes.
Deborah Fletcher (Advisor)
Austin Smith (Committee Member)
George Davis (Committee Member)
51 p.
Criminology; Economics
police; racial bias; racial bias training, implicit bias; implicit bias training; racial discrimination; law enforcement; traffic stops; veil of darkness; police training

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Laub, E. F. (2020). Are the Police Racist? Evidence from Traffic Stop Outcomes [Master's thesis, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1596020889916973

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Laub, Eric. Are the Police Racist? Evidence from Traffic Stop Outcomes. 2020. Miami University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1596020889916973.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Laub, Eric. "Are the Police Racist? Evidence from Traffic Stop Outcomes." Master's thesis, Miami University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1596020889916973

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1596020889916973
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© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.