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The most common reason for contact with the police is being a driver in a traffic stop. BJS measures the nature and extent of traffic stops through the Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS), which interviews U.S. residents about their contacts with police during the previous 12 months. Persons are asked if they were stopped by police as the driver of or as a passenger in a motor vehicle. Persons who report more than one contact during the year are asked to describe the most recent occurrence. Those who experienced a traffic stop as their most recent contact with police are asked about the characteristics of the stop, such as the reason for the traffic stop, if they felt the stop was legitimate, the outcome of the stop, and if they felt police behaved properly. The PPCS has been conducted about every three years since 1996.

Data Collections & Surveys

• Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)
• State Police Traffic Stop Data Collection Procedures

Publications & Products

Contacts Between Police and the Public, 2018 - Statistical Tables This report is the twelfth in a series that began in 1996. It examines the nature and frequency of residents' contact with police by residents' demographic characteristics, types of contact, perceptions of police behaviors, and police threats or use of nonfatal force.
	Full report (PDF 675K) | Data tables (Zip format 14K) Part of the Contacts between Police and the Public Series
Contacts Between Police and the Public, 2015 Presents data on the nature and frequency of contact between police and U.S. residents age 16 or older, including demographic characteristics of residents, the reason for and outcomes of the contact, police threats or use of nonfatal force, and residents' perceptions of police behavior during the contact.
	Press Release (95K) | Summary (PDF 124K) | Full report (PDF 577K) | Data table (Zip format 49K) Part of the Contacts between Police and the Public Series
Requests for Police Assistance, 2011 Examines the characteristics and experiences of persons age 16 or older who contacted police to request assistance in 2011.
	Press Release | Full report (PDF 952K) | ASCII file (23K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 33K)
Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011 Examines the characteristics and experiences of persons age 16 or older who were stopped by police during traffic and street stops, and their perceptions of police behavior and response during these encounters.
	Press Release | Full report (PDF 1.8M) | ASCII file (52K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 64K)
Requests for Police Assistance, 2011 STUDY FINDS SOME RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTIONS OF POLICE BEHAVIOR DURING CONTACT WITH THE PUBLIC
	Press Release
Contacts between Police and the Public, 2008 Presents findings from a nationally representative survey of nearly 60,000 residents age 16 or older about their contact with police during the 12 months prior to the interview.
	Press Release | Full report (PDF 932K) | ASCII file (48K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 51K) | Codebooks and Datasets Part of the Contacts between Police and the Public Series
Contacts between Police and the Public, 2008 CONTACTS BETWEEN POLICE AND THE PUBLIC DECLINED FROM 2002 TO 2008
	Press Release Part of the Contacts between Police and the Public Series
Average base starting salary for entry-level officers in local police departments, 2000 and 2003 Figure 7 from Local Police Departments, 2003
	Download CSV file (Data Table 1 KB)
Local Police Departments, 2003 Full-time employment by local police departments, 1987-2003 Local Police Departments, 2003 Full-time employment by local police departments, 1987-2003
	Spreadsheet (1K)
Contacts between Police and the Public, 2005 "Police stop white, black and Hispanic drivers at similar rates according to Department of Justice report"
	Press Release | More information about this release

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