How Roadway Composition Matters in Analyzing Police Data on Racial Profiling

Statistical analysis of racial profiling requires an accurate measure of the racial composition of roadways. This article reports on a rolling roadway composition method used to estimate the racial composition of roadways in a predominantly White suburban community bordering a predominantly African American community. The importance of roadway data when analyzing police data on racial profiling is demonstrated by comparing these roadway composition data with police mobile data terminal query and stop data. Roadway data reveal patterns of police profiling behavior that are not visible through analyses of police data alone.

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