We test for the existence of gender bias in power relationships. Speci cally, we examine whether police offcers are less likely to issue traffic tickets to men or to women during traffic stops. Whereas the conventional wisdom, which we document with surveys, is that women are less likely to receive tickets, our analysis shows otherwise. Examination of a pooled sample of traffic stops from five locations reveals no gender bias, but does show significant regional variation in the likelihood of citations. Analysis by location shows that women are more likely to receive citations in three of the five locations. Men are more likely to receive citations in the other two locations. To our knowledge, this study is the first to test for gender bias in traffc stops, and clearly refutes the conventional wisdom that police are more lenient towards women.
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Polstops Newsletter n4 (June 2022)
At last, we have been able to meet again. And we can now begin to identify what we have missed…
Read moreSpecial issue on POLICE ENCOUNTERS
A Special Issue on POLICE ENCOUNTERS of the Journal of Organizational Ethnography guest edited by Megan O’Neill, Mike Rowe, Sofie…
Read moreDoctoral and Early Career Training School 'Writing about Police Stops' - Call for Expressions of Interest
Location: Florence Dates: 2 – 6 May 2022 The EU Cost Action on Police Stops (CA17102) invites applications from Doctoral…
Read morePolstops Newsletter n3 (December 2021)
Looking back at our last newsletter, we optimistically planned in person meetings in the autumn of 2021. Travel restrictions made…
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