BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics
| Home | About Us | Contact Us | Help | A-Z Topic List |
- Home
- Topics
- Publications & Products
- Data Collections
- Funding
- Data Analysis Tools
View Dynamic Tools
- Arrest Data Analysis Tool Home Page (Updated with 2013 and 2014 data)
- Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Parole
- Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Prisoners
- Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT) - Probation
- Federal Criminal Case Processing Statistics (FCCPS)
- NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool (NVAT)
- National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) API
- Prisoner Recidivism Analysis Tool - 1994 Home Page
- View By Topic
- Key Statistics
- About Us
- Research
Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011Lynn Langton, Ph.D., Matthew R. Durose, Bureau of Justice Statistics
September 24, 2013 NCJ 242937
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. It describes the outcomes of traffic and street stops by the reason for the stop; demographic characteristics of the persons stopped; race or Hispanic origin of the officers; and whether a ticket was issued, a search was conducted, or force was used. It also describes variations in perceptions of the police across characteristics and outcomes of traffic and street stops. Data are from the 2011 Police-Public Contact Survey, a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which collects information from a nationally representative sample of persons in U.S. households on contact with police during a 12-month period. This is a companion report to Requests for Police Assistance, 2011
Highlights:
- Relatively more black drivers (13%) than white (10%) and Hispanic (10%) drivers were pulled over in a traffic stop during their most recent contact with police. There were no statistical differences in the race or Hispanic origin of persons involved in street stops.
- Drivers pulled over by an officer of the same race or ethnicity were more likely (83%) than drivers pulled over by an officer of a different race or ethnicity (74%) to believe that the reason for the traffic stop was legitimate.
- White drivers were both ticketed and searched at lower rates than black and Hispanic drivers.
- About 1% of drivers pulled over in traffic stops had physical force used against them by police. Of these drivers, 55% believed the police behaved properly during the stop.
Press Release
Full report (PDF 1.8M)
ASCII file (52K)
Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 64K)
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)
To cite this product, use the following link:
https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4779