Reprioritization of Traffic Stops Intervention Study

A large natural experiment of vehicle stops conducted by the police department of Fayetteville, North Carolina has suggested that both motor vehicle crash outcomes and racial disparities in vehicle stop rates could be ameliorated by having law enforcement officers (LEAs) reprioritize the types of stops officers initiate with motorists. The study found that compared to a synthetic control group, increasing the proportion of stops made for traffic safety-related reasons (e.g., speeding violation, running a red light) and decreasing the proportion of stops made for investigatory or economic reasons (e.g., suspicion of drug possession, expired vehicle registration) reduced motor vehicle crashes, motor vehicle crash injuries, and disproportionate stops of Black drivers without leading to increases in non-traffic crimes. This kind of reprioritization of vehicle stops—henceforth referred to as “the Fayetteville intervention”—included changes to officers’ vehicle stop activities, vehicle stop policies, workflows, staffing, and other organizational structures. However, the study was not able to examine which of these changes likely brought about the beneficial effects of the intervention. The goals of this project are to produce a report describing the mechanisms and processes of the Fayetteville intervention, the feasibility of reprioritization as a countermeasure in general, and—if it is feasible to implement in other jurisdictions—what such an intervention should consist of in content and form.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $388818
• Contract Numbers:

  693JJ921D000033/693JJ923F000190

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, D.C.  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Brown, Nathaniel

• Performing Organizations:

  Preusser Research Group, Incorporated

  7100 Main Street
  Trumbull, CT  United States  06611
• Start Date: 20230807
• Expected Completion Date: 20270329
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Highway Safety Research
• Subprogram: Law Enforcement

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Police; Prevention; Race; Traffic crashes; Traffic law enforcement; Traffic safety; Traffic violations
• Geographic Terms: Fayetteville (North Carolina)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01889778
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Contract Numbers: 693JJ921D000033/693JJ923F000190
• Files: RIP, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 8 2023 1:51PM