Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California

Police officers typically work under physically demanding, time-sensitive and stressful conditions, while making discretionary decisions that potentially have substantial consequences. One possible arena whereby police officers exercise their own discretion on a daily basis is in traffic stops. Our...

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Main Authors: Tan, Bin Qian, Tay, Jared Min Wai, Teng, Ting
Other Authors: Tang Cheng Keat
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166316
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1663162023-04-30T15:31:39Z Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California Tan, Bin Qian Tay, Jared Min Wai Teng, Ting Tang Cheng Keat School of Social Sciences c.k.tang@ntu.edu.sg Social sciences Police officers typically work under physically demanding, time-sensitive and stressful conditions, while making discretionary decisions that potentially have substantial consequences. One possible arena whereby police officers exercise their own discretion on a daily basis is in traffic stops. Our study seeks to shed further light on racial profiling at traffic stops in the US, with a specific focus on the state of California. Previous studies have identified racial biases as a potential mechanism that leads to unobjective law enforcement by police officers, although the effect of heat on this mechanism has not been thoroughly explored. Using police stops data, weather data and sunset and sunrise timings in California within the time period of 2010 to 2018, we seek to replicate Grogger and Ridgeway’s Veil of Darkness test, before incorporating the effects of high temperatures into our analysis. We find that racial profiling of traffic stops exists in California, with a 1.4% decrease in traffic stops involving black drivers after dusk, compared to before sunset. However, we were unable to establish any causal mechanisms linking heat to the racial profiling of police stops. Our findings have implications for future police force reforms in California, as it is essential to address these racial biases to ensure that law enforcement is done on an objective, non-arbitrary basis. Bachelor of Arts in Economics 2023-04-25T05:57:22Z 2023-04-25T05:57:22Z 2023 Final Year Project (FYP) Tan, B. Q., Tay, J. M. W. & Teng, T. (2023). Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166316 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166316 en HE1AY2223_30 application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Social sciences
spellingShingle Social sciences
Tan, Bin Qian
Tay, Jared Min Wai
Teng, Ting
Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California
description Police officers typically work under physically demanding, time-sensitive and stressful conditions, while making discretionary decisions that potentially have substantial consequences. One possible arena whereby police officers exercise their own discretion on a daily basis is in traffic stops. Our study seeks to shed further light on racial profiling at traffic stops in the US, with a specific focus on the state of California. Previous studies have identified racial biases as a potential mechanism that leads to unobjective law enforcement by police officers, although the effect of heat on this mechanism has not been thoroughly explored. Using police stops data, weather data and sunset and sunrise timings in California within the time period of 2010 to 2018, we seek to replicate Grogger and Ridgeway’s Veil of Darkness test, before incorporating the effects of high temperatures into our analysis. We find that racial profiling of traffic stops exists in California, with a 1.4% decrease in traffic stops involving black drivers after dusk, compared to before sunset. However, we were unable to establish any causal mechanisms linking heat to the racial profiling of police stops. Our findings have implications for future police force reforms in California, as it is essential to address these racial biases to ensure that law enforcement is done on an objective, non-arbitrary basis.
author2 Tang Cheng Keat
author_facet Tang Cheng Keat
Tan, Bin Qian
Tay, Jared Min Wai
Teng, Ting
format Final Year Project
author Tan, Bin Qian
Tay, Jared Min Wai
Teng, Ting
author_sort Tan, Bin Qian
title Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California
title_short Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California
title_full Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California
title_fullStr Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California
title_full_unstemmed Heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in California
title_sort heat on the street: exploring the role of heat and racial biases on traffic stops by police in california
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2023
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166316
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