This report summarizes two reports from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), both of which address the analysis of race data collected by police during vehicle stops.
The problem of racism has been a focus within American society for decades. Law enforcement agencies, in particular, have increasingly faced allegations of disparate treatment of criminal suspects based on race. In response, law enforcement agencies around the country have implemented data collection and analysis efforts in which police officers collect data on drivers' race when they make vehicle stops. The data allows agencies to analyze whether racially biased policing practices are occurring. The report entitled By the Numbers: A Guide for Analyzing Race Data from Vehicle Stops presents a step-by-step guide on the data collection and analysis of vehicle stop data. The report is intended to aid those who actually conduct the analysis and write the final reports. The second report, Understanding Race Data from Vehicle Stops: A Stakeholder's Guide, also explains how to analyze data from vehicle stops yet this publication is intended for law enforcement officials who will be the consumers of the data analysis and will make decisions based on the data. Both reports describe the potential and limitations of police-citizen contact data collection and both present clear guidance on interpreting the data. The process of vehicle stop data collection and analysis can serve as a basis for a constructive dialog between police agencies and residents regarding racially biased policing. References, resources