Purpose

The present study assesses the contextual racial effects on police decisions to arrest in traffic stops.

Design/methodology/approach

A hierarchical logistic regression model is conducted using data collected from the Houston Police Department and US census.

Findings

The authors’ multilevel analysis indicates that the racial effect on police decision to arrest is more likely to be contextual than individual. Black and Hispanic drivers have no significant difference from White drivers in police decisions to arrest when area variations are controlled. In contrast, the concentrations of Blacks and other racial minorities in areas are significantly associated with the chance of being arrested by police in traffic stops. However, as the level of racial diversity increases in an area, the chance of being arrested is likely to decrease.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the importance of racial characteristics of areas in the study of racial profiling and related police practice.

中文翻译：

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地区的种族特征和警察在交通站点逮捕的决定：背景种族影响的多层次分析

目的

本研究评估了背景种族对警察在交通站点逮捕决定的影响。

设计/方法/方法

使用从休斯顿警察局和美国人口普查收集的数据进行分层逻辑回归模型。

发现

作者的多层次分析表明，种族对警察逮捕决定的影响比个人更有可能与背景有关。在控制区域变化时，黑人和西班牙裔司机与白人司机在警察决定逮捕方面没有显着差异。相比之下，黑人和其他少数族裔在地区的集中与在交通站点被警察逮捕的机会显着相关。然而，随着一个地区种族多样性水平的提高，被捕的机会可能会减少。

原创性/价值

这项研究证明了地区种族特征在种族定性和相关警察实践研究中的重要性。