Black drivers are stopped for minor offenses requiring more officer discretion

Evidence

We focused on the reasons drivers were stopped and, specifically, the degree of discretion the officer had in deciding whether or not to enforce a specific law and make a particular stop. The amount of discretion police exercise in deciding to conduct a stop varies from the low end (e.g., when an officer observes a severe traffic violation that poses a threat to public safety) to the high end (e.g., when an officer observes a minor equipment violation, such as driving with a broken license plate light or an expired registration). We found racial disparities in the discretionary context of stops, such that Black drivers were more likely than White drivers to be stopped for more minor offenses, which officers have greater discretion in enforcing (Camp et al., in prep). — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 369