Via ResourceShelf's
DocuTicker:
Traffic Stops--Demographics
Source:
Characteristics of Drivers Stopped by Police, 2002
"Presents
data on the nature and characteristics of traffic stops, as collected
in the 2002 Police Public Contact Survey, a supplement to the National
Crime Victimization Survey. Detailed demographic information is
presented on the 16.8 million drivers stopped by police in 2002. The
report provides statistics about various outcomes of traffic stops,
including searches conducted by police, tickets issued to drivers
stopped for speeding, arrests of stopped drivers, and police use of
force during a traffic stop. The report also discusses the relevance of
the survey findings to the issue of racial profiling and provides
comparative analysis with prior survey findings."
Full Report (PDF; 337 KB)
From the
RAND Corporation:
By: Ben A. Vollaard
This dissertation addresses how to assess police performance and how to
use performance assessments to strengthen incentives for the police.
First, an econometric analysis provides evidence of negative effects of
police on property crime, violent crime and public disorder. The police
funding formula is modeled to identify the endogenous variation in
police levels. The remaining variation is used to identify police
effectiveness. By using victimization data, this study provides
evidence on the effects of police on public disorder rather than crime
only, circumvents measurement error common to police statistics, and
controls for both individual and municipality characteristics. Second,
an analysis of incentive design suggests a tradeoff between two
alternative approaches to holding the police accountable to results. A
performance reward can be based on a definition of “good performance”
ex ante. Alternatively, subjective performance assessment can be used
to close the gap between performance data and judgment of performance
ex post. Given the multidimensional nature of police work and the
prevalence of non-discrete outcomes, rule-based assessment proves to be
difficult. The government faces an unfavorable tradeoff between power
of incentives versus distortion of effort and discretionary power.
Subjective assessment alleviates distortion of effort and leaves more
room to respond to (changing) regional conditions. [PDF available]
