During traffic stops, police search black and Hispanic motorists more than twice as often as white motorists, yet those searches are no more likely to yield contraband. We ask whether equalizing search rates by motorist race would reduce contraband yield. We use unique administrative data from Texas to isolate variation in search behavior across and within highway patrol troopers and find that search rates are unrelated to the proportion of searches that yield contraband. We find that troopers can equalize search rates across racial groups, maintain the status quo search rate, and increase contraband yield. Troopers appear to be limited in their ability to discern between motorists that are more or less likely to carry contraband.

中文翻译：

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消除机动车搜索中的种族差异会产生效率成本吗？

在交通停站期间，警察搜索黑人和西班牙裔驾车者的频率是白人驾车者的两倍以上，但这些搜索不太可能产生违禁品。我们问是否通过驾驶族来均衡搜索率会降低违禁品的产量。我们使用得克萨斯州的独特行政数据来隔离公路巡逻警官之间及其内部的搜索行为差异，并发现搜索率与产生违禁品的搜索比例无关。我们发现，士兵可以使整个种族群体的搜索率均等，维持现状的搜索率并提高违禁品得率。士兵在辨别或多或少携带违禁品的驾车者的能力看来受到限制。