Abstract

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 who are more or less likely to carry contraband.

中文翻译：

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消除机动车辆搜索中的种族差异会带来效率成本吗？*

摘要

在交通拦截期间，警察搜查黑人和西班牙裔驾驶者的频率是白人驾驶者的两倍多，但这些搜查不太可能产生违禁品。我们询问通过驾驶者种族来平衡搜索率是否会降低违禁品的产量。我们使用来自德克萨斯州的独特行政数据来隔离高速公路巡逻队内部和内部搜索行为的变化，并发现搜索率与产生违禁品的搜索比例无关。我们发现，士兵可以平衡不同种族群体的搜索率，维持现状搜索率，并增加违禁品产量。士兵们似乎在辨别那些或多或少可能携带违禁品的驾驶者方面的能力有限。