Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011
Traffic stops
About 71% of persons involved in streets stops thought the police behaved properly, compared to 88% of drivers pulled over in traffic stopsIn 2011, less than 1% of the 241.4 million U.S. residents age 16 or older were involved in a street stop during their most recent contact with police (table 1; appendix table 2). A greater percentage of males (1%) than females (less than 1%) were involved in street stops during 2011. Persons ages 16 to 24 were more likely than persons age 35 or older to be involved in street stops. While no differences were observed in the percentage of non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic populations age 16 or older involved in a street stop, among those who were stopped, a smaller percentage of blacks (38%) than Hispanics (63%) or whites (78%) felt the police behaved properly during the stop.
Traffic stops were a more common form of police contact than street stops in 2011. About 10% of the 212.3 million U.S. drivers age 16 or older were stopped while operating a motor vehicle during their most recent contact with police.1 As with street stops, a greater percentage of male drivers (12%) than female drivers (8%) were pulled over in traffic stops. Across age groups, the highest percentage of stopped drivers was among drivers ages 18 to 24 (18%). A higher percentage of black drivers (13%) than white (10%) and Hispanic (10%) drivers age 16 or older were pulled over in a traffic stop during their most recent contact with police.
A higher percentage of drivers in traffic stops (88%) than persons involved in street stops (71%) believed the police behaved properly during the stop. White drivers pulled over by police (89%) were more likely than black drivers (83%) to think that the police behaved properly, while no difference was observed between the percentages of stopped white drivers and Hispanic drivers who thought that the police behaved properly. There was also no statistical difference in the percentages of black and Hispanic stopped drivers who believed the police behaved properly.
Street stopsa | Traffic stopsb | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Percent of stopped persons |
Percent of stopped drivers |
|||||||||
Demographic characteristics |
Percent of all persons |
Total | Police behaved properlyd |
Percent of all driversc |
Total | Police behaved properlyd |
||||
Total | 0.6% | 100% | 70.7% | 10.2% | 100% | 88.2% | ||||
Sex | ||||||||||
Male | 0.8% | 67.5% | 69.8% | 11.9% | 58.8% | 86.9% | ||||
Female | 0.4 | 32.5 | 72.7 | 8.4 | 41.2 | 89.9 | ||||
Race/Hispanic origin | ||||||||||
Whitee | 0.6% | 65.2% | 77.6% | 9.8% | 69.3% | 89.4% | ||||
Black/African Americane | 0.6 | 12.4 | 37.7 ! | 12.8 | 12.6 | 82.7 | ||||
Hispanic/Latino | 0.7 | 15.3 | 62.9 | 10.4 | 12.2 | 86.5 | ||||
American Indian/Alaska Nativee | 0.5 ! | 0.6 ! | 100 ! | 15.0 | 0.6 | 74.2 | ||||
Asian/Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islandere | 0.4 ! | 3.6 ! | 85.0 ! | 9.4 | 4.0 | 89.5 | ||||
Two or more racese | 1.8 ! | 3.1 ! | 76.6 ! | 13.4 | 1.3 | 94.8 | ||||
Age | ||||||||||
1617 | 1.5% | 8.5% | 67.4% | 9.0% | 1.8% | 92.3% | ||||
1824 | 1.6 | 31.7 | 72.1 | 17.8 | 19.5 | 85.1 | ||||
2534 | 0.9 | 27.1 | 64.4 | 12.7 | 22.4 | 88.1 | ||||
3544 | 0.4 | 10.6 | 81.6 | 11.3 | 19.8 | 87.9 | ||||
4554 | 0.4 | 10.9 | 79.7 | 9.4 | 17.9 | 88.7 | ||||
5564 | 0.2 | 5.5 | 62.2 ! | 7.1 | 11.4 | 89.7 | ||||
65 or older | 0.2 | 5.7 | 68.8 ! | 4.8 | 7.2 | 92.3 | ||||
Note: See appendix table 2 for estimates of the U.S. population and driving population age 16 or older and appendix table 3 for standard errors.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, Police-Public Contact Survey, 2011.
Driving while black b.s. is all based upon a measily two percent? See Percent of stopped drivers, Police did not give reason for the stop below.
Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011
Traffic stops
"Regardless of the reason for the traffic stop, black (67%) and Hispanic (74%) drivers were less likely than white drivers (84%) to believe the reason for the stop was legitimate."In 2011, a greater percentage of white drivers (84%) than Hispanic (74%) or black drivers (67%) who were stopped by police believed they were pulled over for a legitimate reason (table 2). Across all races and Hispanic origin, drivers stopped for speeding were among the most likely to perceive that the reason for the traffic stop was legitimate (90% of white, 83% of Hispanic, and 73% of black drivers). In general, drivers who were pulled over and not given a reason for the traffic stop were the least likely to think the traffic stop was legitimate. For example, 51% of white drivers who were stopped without the police giving a reason believed the stop was legitimate, whereas 84% who were given a reason believed that the stop was legitimate.
"Among other reasons for traffic stops that were associated with comparatively lower perceptions that the stop was legitimate, less than 70% of white (69%), black (69%), and Hispanic (64%) drivers who were pulled over for a stop light or stop sign violation believed the police had a legitimate reason for stopping them. Less than 70% of black drivers stopped due to a vehicle defect (69%), a seatbelt or cell phone violation (64%), or an illegal turn or lane change violation (65%) thought the police had a legitimate reason for stopping them."
Percent of stopped drivers | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reason for traffic stop |
All |
White a |
Black/African American a |
Hispanic/Latino |
Other a,b |
Any reasons | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Police gave reason for the stop | |||||
Speeding | 46.5 | 50.1 | 37.7 | 39.2 | 37.3 |
Vehicle defect | 14.1 | 12.7 | 19.0 | 16.5 | 14.6 |
Record check | 9.7 | 9.0 | 14.0 | 9.7 | 9.9 |
Roadside sobriety check | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.4 ! | 1.0 ! | 1.0 ! |
Seatbelt or cell phone violation | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.4 |
Illegal turn or lane change | 7.0 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 10.8 |
Stop sign/light violation | 6.7 | 6.1 | 5.5 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
Other reasonc | 5.1 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 5.2 |
Police did not give reason for the stop | 3.1 | 2.6 | 4.7 | 3.3 | 4.2 ! |
|
Percent reporting reason for stop was legitimate d |
|||||
Reason for traffic stop |
All |
White a |
Black/African American a |
Hispanic/Latino |
Other a,b |
Any reasons | 80% | 83.6% | 67.5% | 73.6% | 78.4% |
Police gave reason for the stop | |||||
Speeding | 87.1 | 89.6 | 72.8 | 83.1 | 87.3 |
Vehicle defect | 81.2 | 86.4 | 69.0 | 74.4 | 79.3 |
Record check | 80.0 | 80.9 | 83.0 | 70.7 | 81.2 |
Roadside sobriety check | 79.4 | 86.0 | -- ! | 56.6 ! | 68.1 ! |
Seatbelt or cell phone violation | 79.7 | 84.0 | 63.8 | 77.3 | 69.0 ! |
Illegal turn or lane change | 73.0 | 75.4 | 65.0 | 72.6 | 67.1 |
Stop sign/light violation | 68.4 | 68.8 | 69.2 | 63.6 | 74.6 |
Other reason c | 59.1 | 65.2 | 21.6 ! | 61.9 | 67.8 ! |
Police did not give reason for the stop | 44.6 | 51.0 | 36.6 ! | 18.3 ! | 59.8 ! |
Note: Based on persons for whom the most recent contact with police was as a driver in a traffic stop. See appendix table 4 for standard errors.
! Interpret with caution. Estimate based on 10 or fewer cases or the coefficient of variation is greater than 50%. -- Less than 0.05%.
Those darn American Indian/Alaska Natives have it made!